Around Bangkok

15th February: The Arrival

The entrance to Victory Executive Residences
- rather grand

The arrival processes in Bangkok went smoothly: my luggage eventually appeared on the carousel (why is it my bag always seems the last to appear?), the ATM dispensed me money as requested, although it was a bit of a nuisance that I could not access my money but had to withdraw a cash amount from my credit card - a problem that was later repeated. Bhutan's ATMs gave me the required option and it worked well there to withdraw cash from my account. Immigration and customs were cleared with no problems and I obtained my ticket to queue for a taxi. The ticket indicated the taxi bay, registration number and driver's name and the phone number of the appropriate authority should I have any complaints.

The taxi waiting area was VERY noisy, with hundreds of cars and thousands of people and far more cigarette smoke than is comfortable. After a few minutes my taxi pulled up and the driver quoted 500 baht including the extra 50baht for the driver, that airport signs said applied, and tolls. I wondered if that was a rip off.... the trip took more than half an hour, around 25km, so by home standards the cost was ok, although I subsequently found out that sometimes the price was much higher. 

A sufficiently comfortable room

There was some confusion at check in, the main source of this seemed to be that I had booked through the hotels own website! Obviously not a common process.  The receptionist wanted me to forward my confirmation email to her. Fine, whatever worked. It was easy enough when the hotel provided free wifi. 

After checking out my quite comfortable room, I walked to find a 7/11 shop to buy a phone SIM card and tonic for my duty free gin. In the absence of any evidence of tonic, for lime and soda and street food for dinner. I phoned my friend and colleague, Cha, from Gyelposhing said she would come with me the following day to the Chinese consulate to do my visa application.

Demonstrating winding silk from the cocoons
at Jim Thompson House

16th February: Day 1 in Bangkok

Cha came to meet me at 8am, and we took a taxi to Chinese consulate. The whole application process was easy, as opposed to what I had read online of others' experiences. The only stumbling block being that I had not put a current employer (I did not think that the authorities would look kindly on "unemployed, of no fixed address”, which is strictly true) one was happy to accept retired, the other wanted my last school address. Whatever works. Overall the process was quick and easy.

Completion of the application process (return tomorrow afternoon to collect) was celebrated with an iced latte and discussion of the program for the day. We took a taxi to Jim Thompson House; I had thought that there might be information in greater detail about his contribution to the Thai textile industry, but it was more about his lifestyle and interest in collecting objet d'art. The prices in the on-site shop made it easy to resist, along with the brand name merchandising of a whole range of products completely unrelated to silk. 

Spirit house at Jim Thompson House

I had said to Cha that I would like to buy a couple of items of summer clothing and some new sport shoes, so Cha took me to a wholesale market. I purchased 2 pairs of trousers, one shirt and some white ankle socks, at very, very cheap prices and hundreds of stalls to choose from. Given that in Bhutan "made in Thailand" is a mark of quality, the choice was overwhelming. Cha rang her father to take us to Wat Don Wai Floating Market.  It was SOOO much fun, with loads of interesting foods. My catch cry for the afternoon was Cha " what's this?" And it was matched almost equally with Cha's "try this". Lots of interesting flavours and much sampling but after a couple of hours it was suggested we needed to eat a meal, so we adjourned to the restaurant area and what seemed to be a huge number of dishes was ordered.  I tried everything and took seconds of most things, although not the blood sausage.

Dinner with Cha and her parents
at Wat Don Wai floating market

After the meal, which I tried unsuccessfully to pay for,  Cha’s father dropped us at one of the bigger shopping centres for me to attempt to purchase a pair of sports shoes.  I tried on a couple of pairs then fund a shop selling Nike Air.  Anticipating that these would be as comfortable as the old pair I had left with my students in Gyelposhing, I purchased a pair of sport shoes, but am not totally convinced by their comfort that they are the genuine article.  Though they are becoming more comfortable with time. 


One of Cha’s ex-boyfriends calls her with an offer to drive her home and drop me at the hotel on the way and this offer is gratefully accepted.  He does not like her catching taxis if he is free to drive her.

Wat Phra Kaew

17^th February: Day 2 in Bangkok

Cha comes to meet me at 9am and we take a taxi to Wat Phra Kaew. It seems that approximately a squillion other people have also decided  to visit this place with its famous Emerald Buddha.  As we entered we are offered the services of a guide for 500 baht for a 45 minute tour.  We accept and she whizzes us around the buildings with a broken English explanation which matches well the tourist information provided on the map and brochure, and told us when to take photos and who should be in the photo.

The summerhouse at Wat Phra 

It was amusing to watch this self appointed policeman of morality dictate to other tourists that they should remove hats, cover their shoulders or cleavage better and not put their shoes on the steps.  She took photos for us, with us posed appropriately beside various features, and gave us her “get ready” count of 1, 2, 2½….  At the end of the tour, she indicated that it had taken more than 45 minutes and we should pay more…… she seemed happy with an extra 100 baht – though Cha was a little indignant as we had not asked her to stay longer.

Reclining Buddha

After a bit more wandering at Wat Phra Kaew on our own, left seeking a snack from street food vendors, but those Cha was seeking were not to be found and we ended up at an air conditioned café, After You at Tha Maharaj  ordering a large iced dessert to share.  Cooling us inside and out, this was a welcome break.

From here we caught the river boat (with what seemed like far too many people for a boat that size) to Wat Pho (the Temple of the Reclining Buddha), or Wat Phra Chetuphon. This was much more peaceful and decorous with only a couple of hundred other visitors.

At Wat Pho

We returned to the Chinese consulate to collect my visa – very quick and easy – via Cha’s house to pick up her phone charger and then taxied to the vicinity of one of the large shopping centers.  Cha takes me to Wat Pathumwanaram, a quite local temple, to get a better feel for a Thai temple, and we enjoy the peacefulness of this.  It is the temple her family used to attend before her mother converted to Catholicism.  Some street food is called for before  a bit of browsing in the shopping centre and returning to the vicinity of my hotel and eating at a local restaurant that seemed to specialize in green papaya salad.  Cha ordered a variety of dishes for us, all of which were very tasty.

My attempts to transfer some of the photos and videoclips to Cha’s hard drive are frustrated by my computer not recognizing the formatting of the drive, so this would need to be delayed.

Wat Pathumwanarum

Chedi at Wat Pathumwanarum

18^th February: Day 3 in Bangkok

Cha was busy this morning and I elected to visit the Jim Thompson Factory outlet; I had thought that they might offer a shipping service but apparently not, so it was easy to resist purchasing silk curtaining for my living room.  I had thought I might treat myself to some shirt lengths in shades of blue-green, but there was almost nothing in this colour range, so I left empty handed!

Traditional dnacers at
Erawan Four Faced Buddha
would dance when paid to do so

Erawan Four Faced Buddha

At her suggestions, I met Cha at Siam station, an easier process than I expected and we walked for a while, including visiting the Erawan Four Face Buddha.  This shrine had been the site of relatively recent terrorist action during which several tourists were killed and there was security much in evidence when we visited.

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We adjourned to an air conditioned restaurant, Apinara Thai Cuisine and Bar, in a shopping complex, and had a great lunch (mine included soft shell crab) and enjoyed a little reprieve from the craziness that is Bangkok.

A peaceful haven from Bangkok's
hustle and bustle, and a delicious meal

This is followed by a visit to the Bangkok art and culture centre, which has some interesting exhibitions, including a photographic exhibition by the Princess – nothing superbly artistic bt some nice travel photos.Further perusal of some upmarket shops, and looking at the bargain rails (but no fitting room facilities available for sales – not sure of the logic of this, I certainly would not buy at those prices without trying first) provided a little more amusement and was followed by street food.

19^th February: The Departure

Packing up ready to depart for the airport and the contents of my suitcase seemed to have expanded excessively – though I had purchased some new clothes and a new pair of sport shoes. And a silk scarf – it was a bit  hard to resist!

checking out the upmarket fashions
with ideas of adapting for future
sewing projects

My taxi trip to airport was only 260 Baht including tolls) - only a little more than half of what I was charged on the way to the hotel, which made me wonder again if  I'd been overcharged.

Checking into my domestic flight was interesting,  my suitcase was overweight and it would be preferred if I could remove a couple of kg.  I transferred some items to hand luggage and ended up carrying my laptop bag and backpack both as hand luggage – which did not seem to be a problem!
Bangkok airways has a lounge for everyone so I was able to get a half decent latte and some vegetable pastries to fill the time and a vague hunger. The flight was comfortable; I had expected that the smog haze would lessen as we travelled further away from Bangkok, but this was not to be.  The smoke haze from the burning of the rice paddies, and the slash and burn agriculture, will only get worse over the next month or so.

Flying High

15th February 2016
Arriving at Paro Airport


My timely check in at Paro Airport resulted in a very comfortable seat: the window seat on the right hand side of the plane in the premium economy section immediately behind the bulkhead. Ideal for spectacular views of the Himalayas. Together with a clear sky, this promised mountain views to build on those of the previous day's flight from Bumthang to Paro.

The views were brilliant, with a quick look at Mount Johlmari and Bhutan's other high peaks before the bigger Himalayan peaks, Kilimanjaro and Everest, came into view. 

My being glued to my window was interrupted only by my neighbours trying to shove their cameras in front of my face with a perfunctory "excuse me". This invasion of my personal space finally got too much when the woman in the isle seat not only moved into my foot space but also tried to move herself largely into my seating space and I responded with my best British policeman "stop" hand signal. 

I resumed my being glued to the window and snapping photo opportunities, many of which were blurred, a combination of zoom lens and slightly bumpy flight not really conducive to perfectly clear pictures. 

Eventually the Himalayas disappeared from my view and we started our descent to the transit stop of Mumbai. 

Back in the air, the smog layer became pronounced and continued all the way to Thailand. Glimpses of the huge river delta area that is Bangladesh was a reminder of the vulnerability of areas such as this to the effects of global warming. 

The landing at Bangkok was a sharp reminder that I was no longer in Bhutan. There were more airplanes at the airport than I would usually see cars in Kheni in a week. And it seemed that there were as many people in the airport as in the whole of Bhutan.

This reminder was reinforced as we drove from the airport, towards Bangkok along a multi laned highway that broadened to 8 lanes in one direction at one point. This contrasted sharply with the approach to Paro airport, which was under (re)construction and was as rough as some of the treacherous mountain roads elsewhere in the country.