bountiful Bangkok

We love Bangkok in January! It's warm (not too hot and humid). It's festive (think Mazey Day in Penzance or Trevithick Day in Camborne). It's sensory overload and full of contrasts.
The chanting of monks or Highway to Hell blasting from a protest site. The smell of incense or pork and vegetables in a wok at a street kitchen. The Sky Train or bumping over potholes in a motorbike rickshaw and bouncing in a water taxi on the murky water of a small canal lined by a shanty town of huts and shops.The cool sanctuary of a temple or the pandemonium of the streets. The green of parks or the gold of countless Buddhas.
We haven't had long enough here; this afternoon we must head back to the airport and fly on to Christchurch but I hope that I return one day.

Street food

Wednesday evening, bleary eyed because we'd just arrived and had little sleep, we turned left out of the hotel. Ignoring the invitation to 'see a show', and the (genuine) Thai massage parlour we stopped at a ramshackle street café where both the kitchen and the tables were on the pavement and the sound of karaoke came from somewhere inside. The menu was unintelligible but at last we had fried rice with chicken, shrimp and basil and chili sauce, and 2 beers.
By last night we were old hands. We sat in a street café on the edge of Lumphini Park and ate noodles with chicken, fried rice with crispy pork and a side dish of spinach and other green vegetables. We also had beer and water. We bought roti with banana at a street stall to finish. The cost? The equivalent of £6 for us both.

Street. protests

We've seen the tented villages of the demonstrators at various places around the city centre but never felt threatened. Considerable chaos is being caused by the protesters' road blocks; even where one lane has been left open, chicanes have been created by placing rubber tyres in awkward places forcing traffic to deviate.  Last night we saw a big rally in Victory Square.   After that I decided to lend a hand.

Bangkok scenes

Disaster 2

My oldest, and most comfortable, sandals, which have survived the washing machine and being worn to go swimming in on the stony and sea urchin covered beaches of  Croatia, fell apart after a day wandering the streets of Bangkok.

Birds

The first birds we saw in Bangkok (at the airport) were a Little Egret and a Grey Heron (paddling in the concrete canal between runways). The next was a house sparrow! The largest flock of anything we've seen was in trees on the edge of a golf course, and next to the local sewage works. For other birds (some unidentified so far) see the Bird Log page to the right of this page which I'll create shortly.

Bangkok

We're in Bangkok. We've crossed a few time zones but I think it's Thursday morning here!
After a duty free breakfast in Dubai airport ( Weds. 2am UK time 8am there) we got back on the plane for another 6 hours. I watched Hitchcock's Vertigo on this leg (James Stewart and Kim Novak); they don't make them like that anymore.
How does the Airbus 280 plane get off the ground? At least 600 passengers, 13 nationalities amongst the crew, and they spoke 16 languages between them. If you are amongst the last to be served with your meal the aroma of hot food being enjoyed by the first 599 travellers has your tummy rumbling long before your helping arrives.
The hotel is fine but unremarkable. My shower after all those hours travelling was a real treat however; yes, even better than a shower at Carn Brea leisure centre after my early Sunday morning swim.

HIT THE ROAD

The station info said it was on time but the FGW train pulled into our local station 15 mins late, and confusion reigned when passengers with seats booked in carriage B found it didn't exist. Also those with seats booked facing forward were going backwards. But the quiet carriage was quiet (apart from some gentle snoring, and general merriment at the startled expression of the man about to get off at Westbury when it was announced that there might not be a platform at some exit doors).
We've had our first disaster; Lawson lost the button on his trousers and declined to let me use my needle (sharp) and thread to sew it back on (with him still in them, of course). So I was waiting for him to lose his trousers each time he went to the buffet car.
But here we are in the departure lounge of Terminal 3 of London's Heathrow airport. We should be boarding in 5 mins.
Time to go. Dubai here we come.

EXPEDITION BACK UP

Behind every adventurer is a support team, and we have one too. So, thank you Cynthia (multi-tasking but specialising in bird-feeders, greenhouse and rubber plant), Gordon & Suzanne ( troubleshooters with special responsibility for locating stop taps if necessary), Alison & Bill ( great at sounding convincing that they can deal with anything - and standing by if Gordon needs reminding where he can find the stop taps) and Carol & Geoffrey (luxury chauffeur service).
And I've had my fitness checks  in preparation for our imminent departure: -
Feet - fit for walking
Teeth - fit for Bangkok's street food (if riots and shootings don't prevent us leaving the hotel)
Hair - fabulous upon leaving the salon; a pity this state doesn't last long in my hands but it's short, and fit for travelling, tramping and sleeping on the floor in a hut on Stewart Island.
Eyes -fit for map reading (and avoiding arguments in the campervan about whether I said 'go right' when it should have been 'go left')

Soggy Cornwall this morning. So sorry I won't be here to share it with you much longer....

EARTHQUAKE

During a conversation with Ron on his birthday he reported that the area around Wellington had experienced an earthquake of 6.3 magnitude that day. Ron and Vivien felt the ground shifting and shaking for about 30 seconds.

I'm impressed Ron; it's not everyone who can get the earth to move on his birthday!

This quake was of the same magnitude as those that struck Christchurch with such awful results in 2011.  
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17113574

Earthquakes are common (see NZ Facts right) and Ron says we can expect to experience at least one during our stay.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Many Happy Returns of the Day Ron! We look forward to celebrating with you when we get to Paraparaumu.

HAPPY PACKERS

Peace and love to all. Yesterday's rehearsal of packing our bags went smoothly once Lawson had accepted that the bathroom scales are inaccurate (I can't possibly weigh that much notwithstanding the excesses of Christmas..), and that standing on them holding each bag was not a good way of checking whether we are within our weight allowance. After a dash to the shops to buy luggage scales it was confirmed that Lawson's bag is just under the allowance (including his telescope and tripod) but mine is quite a bit under - so I could take my electric toothbrush and the kitchen sink after all. If there was room. I'm working on it.
Note to Vivien: thank you for letting me know that you have shops in NZ where I could buy a toothbrush.(!)

St Ives Bay, Cornwall this morning before the rain came back.

An hour later: storm clouds gathering. Cornwall 6 degrees and rain guaranteed. Wellington 20 degrees with 30% probability of rain (oh well, you can't have it all).

BANGKOK

It's going to take  a long time to get from home to Christchurch on New Zealand's South Island (including, of course, the best part of one day to travel from Cornwall to Heathrow airport). Our journey out will be broken by stops in Dubai, Bangkok and Sydney. We shall not be long in Dubai and Sydney; just enough time to get off the plane with our hand luggage, go through security again, walk past all the duty free shops and get back on but we will be in Bangkok for 2 days.  Where there's a revolution going on........

 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-25708679

CHARACTERS

The cast so far: -
The Intrepid Explorers -         Heather and Lawson (seen above)
The Kiwis -                             Ron and Vivien (seen below)

PREPARATIONS

It's not long now before we leave. We are beginning to think in earnest about how much 'stuff' we need to sustain us on our trip and how much of that will be covered by our Emirates Airline 30kg luggage allowance each, plus carry on bags.
There was some discussion about this today when I met friends for lunch (the coconut, carrot and coriander soup was deliciously smooth, and thanks for the large helping of orange and semolina cake, Sandra. The wine doesn't seem to have done me any harm either; just a pity there wasn't enough for a second glass for Kathy...). It was agreed that a large quantity of essential underwear could be carried with such an allowance but Anne felt my electric toothbrush will have to go.

Lawson announced this morning that there'll be a packing dummy run next weekend.

It can only end in tears.

This is my bag. Will it be big enough?