In Bangkok, Thailand

Arrival in Bangkok

We touched down at 10:20pm local time (1:50am S.A. time). The airport here is enormous! I didn’t count the planes as we taxied, but it must have been well over a hundred, maybe many more. It took 20 minutes to taxi to a stop, 15 minutes by bus to the terminal and then another 30 minutes through immigration. It only took 60 seconds to find my luggage. I was thankful to Simon for giving me a blue and purple strap for my case. It made the nondescript black suitcase really stand out. That plus the bright yellow Peregrine tag (provided by my travel agent) made it easy to identify it quickly.

Humid Bangkok

Customs was just an easy walk straight through as I had nothing to declare. Next I was faced with finding the mini-bus driver from Tour East to take me to the hotel. At first I missed the man holding the sign with my name on it. Eventually we met up and headed off to the hotel. On emerging from the airport buildings one is immediately hit by the heat and humidity of Bangkok, even near midnight.

Crazy City

Bangkok at midnight is crazy. The freeway in to the hotel is three lanes of death wish drivers! I was relieved to arrive safely. (Post-script: if only I knew what was in store for me in Nepal I would not have been at all concerned!) Check in took but a few minutes and after a quick shower I fell into bed at 1:30am (5am in S.A.) I woke at 3 o’clock with a sudden fright. I thought I’d slept until 3pm, but when I opened the curtain it was still dark. I’d only slept for an hour and a half. I soon went back to sleep and managed a few hours of good sleep before breakfast.