Due to the short time frame poor Lynne had to do the killer 20 hour trip back to Doha and it took a good few days to recover. Sensibly ( luckily some might say ) I had booked myself a 2 day stopover in Sydney so as to attend a concert to see Eilen Jewell, who was every bit as good, in fact even better than I had hoped. She is fantastic and has a really hot band and I was in heaven being there that night – there is a very apt review of her concert by the Sydney Morning Herald. Managed to have a long lunch catchup with Bob, at a pleasant pub/ brewery in Darling Harbour, which was great and was also able to visit a few of the old haunts such as Paddington and Coogee ( not to mention a few c.d. stores ) during some of my lengthy walks around good old Sydney town. The Hotel pictured is The Royal Hotel in 5 Ways Paddington which was where we were married ( a few years back ).
I had walked some serious kilometers in Sydney and my legs were very sore, but, luck it appears was with me as I was very fortunate to be upgraded to business class for the next trip to Bangkok. Oh what luxury – no wonder business class costs about 3 times as much as economy. After a delicious meal accompanied by some very fine N.Z. Pinot Noir I was able to fully recline my seat into a bed and get some much appreciated zzzzzz's. I had never been upgraded and was enjoying this opportunity as much as I could and I arrived feeling very refreshed. I had planned on catching the next available flight to Phuket, but ( Don't read this bit Mum ) due to a spontaneous stop at a tattoo shop on my last day in Auckland I was under instruction not to sunbathe or swim for 2 weeks.
It had been 30 years since we visited Bangkok and the place seemed a lot cleaner and a whole lot more modern than I had remembered. The Red Shirt demonstrations meant I was unable to take in many of the sights I had planned like the Grand Palace with its Emerald and Gold Buddha's and Wat Pho to see the reclining Buddha....So it was back to killing my legs again with long walks each day. It was exceptionally hot and humid there and one day when returning to my hotel, after another huge walk, I met up with a Kiwi bloke, Greg, who I had met the day before over a few cold Chang beers and he reckoned I probably looked like the hottest guy in Bangkok – my shirt was drenched.
Street life in Bangkok is pretty interesting and very busy with little vendor stalls on every footpath selling all sorts of clothing, leather goods, souvenirs and really delicious looking and smelling food.
Street life hots up somewhat at night and everyone seems to be out and about enjoying the shopping and the food and the bars which are numerous. What can look a little grubby during the day becomes a neon light spectacle at night. Thai food is really fantastic and very cheap – the best Pad Thai I had cost about 70 cents with a cold mineral water to go with it. After dinner I often found myself relaxing in a nice comfy bar chair at one of the many open to the street bars just watching the world go by and enjoying a few nice cold beers – which are also pretty cheap. There are lots of hawkers wandering about selling junky souvenirs but they are very relaxed about things when you say you are not interested and wander off with a smile to try the next tourist. One afternoon while sitting and enjoying a beer I had my toe nails clipped expertly ( for about $2.00 by this very persistent girl with a very impressive put on sad faced pout if you said no ) while chatting away to a nice chap from Canada I had met whilst enjoying my beer beer and a Canadian cigar with....It just didn't seem worth the bother of saying no. Apparently they have been growing Cuban tobacco in Canada for quite a few years and they make very nice cigars.
Less visually pleasant were the beggars who are everywhere but you get a lot of small change which is not worth very much and it is ideal for dropping a few coins into someone's collection tin....Again they don't hassle if you don't oblige which seems to be the Thai way – they are a very relaxed and cruisy people.
On my last day I had an hour or so to kill before catching a taxi out to the airport and my poor legs were killing me so I had the most fantastic 1 hour leg and foot massage at my hotel. For about $5 you just cant beat it. A full body massage ( without extras I must add!! ) is about $10 and I can't recommend Thai massage highly enough – it is just heavenly and oh so relaxing – it can be a little painful sometimes but no pain no gain as they say.
Luck was with me again on the return leg to Dubai as I got upgraded again and arrived back in Doha again feeling very refreshed, the business class on the A380 is a little better again than the previous flight I had. I will probably never get upgraded again but will surely cherish the two opportunities I have just had.
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