17. On to Bangkok

Our driver is meeting us at 7:30 to drive us to the airport.  We have two flights to catch to get to Bangkok.  The first takes us to Kuala Lumpur and then we get a  connecting flight and should be In Bangkok by 3:00pm.  We have a street food tour booked for this evening.

Judith is green.  It’s not fun to be sick in your own bed; so much worse in a foreign place and a day that you’re on the move.  This is going to be an agonizing day for her.  And there’s no way she’ll be interested In a food tour when nothing is staying down. 

She is stoic about today.  There isn’t any complaining; just an attitude that at some point this day will end and be in Bangkok and able to go back to bed and convalescence.  

Last night before she crashed, she went out and bought a couple of cans of apple juice from the “Never Close Market” across the street from the hotel.  When she came back and started drinking it she thought it had gone bad because the juice had small solid jelly like chunks in it.  If you weren’t queasy already, then you’d be guaranteed to feel nauseous after thinking you’d drank something that was off.  

It turns out the apple juice was manufactured to have those chunky bits.  There was a little fine print on the cam that indicated there were chunky bits in the can, but who would have thought that would have even been an option for apple juice?

Before we left for the airport, I went out to secure edible food items for Judith.  I went and got some pastries from the hotel kitchen and since the “Never Close Market” wasn’t open, walked to a breakfast place and ordered apple juice.  I thought it was odd that it was being made at the barista area of the kitchen.  I wish I had watched him make it.  When I got it, it was a vivid green colour, not anything like Sunrype apple juice from home...  It was giving to me in a mug, I considered leaving it because it was such a weird colour and I didn’t think Judith would want it.  But I thought what did I have to lose, so I asked for take out and they poured it into a cup and sealed it (exactly like you would get for bubble tea).  

I came back to the room and Judith was getting ready to go.  To my surprise she tried the apple juice and to my greater surprise she said it was the best she had ever had.  Maybe she was delirious from being dehydrated. Or maybe she was being nice since I went out and sourced it. Or maybe it was really the best.  I remain sceptical.  In any event, good or not, it doesn’t stay with her.  

We are flying Air Asia.  This is a discount airline and up to this point, we have no experience with them.  The first flight from Kota Kinabalu to Kuala Lumpur went off without a hitch. Leg room was a little tight for Judith, but acceptable for someone as short as I am.  Judith wasn’t so happy with the smell of the chicken McPie that was being served up as the meal.  Something about making her nauseous.  But she kept it all together without saying anything.  In fact, the major difference when she's not well is that I carry most of the conversation.  Consequently there was less discussion that entire day as I was mindful of a sick travel partner. 

As we were waiting around the second flight got delayed by 2 hours.  Uggh.  That gets us into Bangkok at 5:00 pm.  We’re supposed to meet the guide for the food tour at 5:30 so by the time we deplane, go through immigration, pick up our luggage, find the driver, navigate to the hotel and get ourselves prepared to go out for a food tour, we will definitively be at least an hour late.  

But more importantly the delay extends how long Judith has to be somewhere other than tucked into a warm bed.  I can tell she won’t be going on the food tour.  

When we get out of the secure part of the Bangkok airport with our luggage, we don’t see our agent’s sign.  We check a few locations and try to follow the instructions provided in our detailed written guide provided by the tour operator, but they don’t make any sense.  When we ask someone to help us, they indicate that the instructions seem to be for the other Bangkok airport, Suvarnabhumi, not for this airport, Don Mueang.

So we attempt to call and see what’s going on, but can’t seem to get through.  There’s a number sequence to use a Canadian cell phone in a foreign country and I haven’t mastered it.  So Judith goes off to see if she can find a service desk and convince them to phone for us, while I wait in the exit area to see if our tour operator shows.  

While I’m waiting I take my phone off airplane mode from when I had turned it on to start the flight.  Up pops a voicemail indicator.  It’s from the tour operator and indicates that they’re sorry that the driver wasn’t able to locate us (because his instructions were to go to the wrong airport) and for us to get a taxi to the hotel for which they will reimburse us.  

So now I go in search of Judith and I'm towing our two bags through a crowded airport.  Fortunately she’s really, really easy to spot in a sea of short, dark haired people (Yes, like me.)  She’s already found a clerk at the information counter to make the call, so we wait patiently until she has an opportunity to interrupt and tell her that the problem has been solved.  

During this period of confusion I find a sign in the airport that amuses me.  I love traveling to foreign countries and finding signs where the translation needs a bit more work or where you shake your head and wonder what were they thinking to end up with that result?  In this case, this sign was being held up in the airport by a travel agent looking for her group to show.  A name change would be needed for her to immigrate to one of several countries. 

We find a taxi desk and prepay our fare to the hotel.  There is an employee who takes our taxi receipt and gestures to Judith and I to follow her.  We're immediately placed in a waiting taxi and the employee passes the receipt back to us.

The taxi driver swings our luggage to and fro until she figures it will clear the trunk lip and then lets the momentum carry the case into the truck.  She is transgendered and has long fingernails and is wearing make up.  In the cab she is happy to let us know about her adult children and taxi ride stories.  

Early on in the long conversation, the driver tells us that the fare we just paid at the taxi desk does not include the highway tolls.  It immediately smells fishy (more on that fishy smell later) but we fork over the 120 baht requested to cover the tolls.  As I write the toll amount on the receipt for future recovery from the tour organizer, I notice that the form does confirm that tolls aren’t included in the fare.  At least that tells us we aren’t been taken for that kind of ride.

After the first expressway and toll paid, the driver indicates she is going another route, one that doesn’t take the second expressway as she thinks that expressway will be all blocked with traffic. She hands back the remaining toll money.  At some point along our new alternate route, she points to the beginning of the second expressway and sure enough, it’s at a standstill.   We zoom past those parked cars.  I’m pretty happy speeding by these stopped cars and I think Judith is even happier.  

We take another shortcut through a large hospital complex.  I think taxis are permitted to use this route but regular vehicles are not.  There are traffic officers regulating vehicles through the narrow streets and our driver seems to drive through the maze with great ease.  And then voila, we’re at the hotel where we’re greeted by the hotel staff for check in and by our guide, Paul.  

AriyasomVilla is a boutique hotel, 24 rooms, right in the middle of the city.  Of course, with a population of 8 Million, Bangkok has a big middle...Anyways our room was pretty nice, and the grounds seemed lush, perfect for us to hang for the next few days.  Judith is happy to finally lie down. 

Panorama shot of bathroom

But with the delay, it’s now dark and by the time I get ready to go back out again it will be too late.  Besides Judith isn’t going to go, so I think maybe we can delay this part of the adventure to another time to when she’s feeling up to it.  We discuss with Paul who agrees to amend our schedule and we agree to start at 8:00 tomorrow.

The hotel room also has a tray of fruit.  I pick out some rambutan (refer earlier comments) to show that I will have some.  The fruit is similar to lychee nuts.  Apparently they are often referred to as a piece of male anatomy.

With Judith heading for bed I proceeded to check out dinner in the hotel restaurant.  It concentrates on vegetarian dishes but you can add shrimp or fish to most of the dishes.  It all looks good except I really don’t like eating alone in a restaurant.  It’s not my thing.  I think meals are for sharing conversation and there’s no sharing when you’re by yourself.  So despite the tasty meal and the lovely restaurant setting it’s not a totally satisfy experience.  I finish dinner quickly and it’s off to bed.