Alarm went off just after 4 a.m. on the last morning in the
Doubletree Hilton in Bangkok. Agghhhh! Nevertheless we were without objection up
and about, cases closed and down in the lobby in time to check out, pick up our
breakfast boxes and get our taxi to BKK international airport. If anyone is travelling to and from the
airport here’s a tip from Richard: if it’s
not rush hours then ask for a taxi without toll. We didn’t on the way out and it was 500 Baht,
but on the way back in we asked for no toll and it cost 250 Baht. This only works if you have checked in on
line and are not late, as traffic can be a bit unpredictable.
No delays. A little wobble when we were asked at check in about our UAE
visa, when we'd only got one for Sri Lanka, but all was well because if you have a European passport. A 30 day visa-on-arrival is
free. A bigger wobble when we lost both the Thai immigration departure cards,
and then the second lot of boarding passes. However these weren’t as major as
they felt at the time. You know what I mean, when your heart starts exploding
up into your neck and the heart rate goes really high! Thai immigration must have met people like us
before, as they had spares in their pockets, and someone kind found the
boarding passes and handed them to a member of staff. “Would Barbara Hastings
and Khachatur Asatourian make themselves known to a member of staff” – a bit of
a wake up call. So a big up for Sri Lankan
Airlines. A comfortable experience with very good food and service, and lovely
understanding staff! We had a long wait in Columbo, 8 hours so we made the most
of the wifi and time went a bit more quickly that way, and captured a few items of cultural interest... It was also interesting to read after the flight that Sri Lankan Airlines had been found to be "Corrupt" - we, of course, were oblivious and just enjoyed the flights.
Queues and behaviour in the queues for immigration were not really suitable for midnight! There was queue rage, people shouting about pushing in, officials speaking to visitors as if they were being well “naughty”. It was best to keep a sense of humour and stay detached, it was over in about 90 minutes. We were actually in transit for 22 hours, but it didn’t feel quite as tiring because we had to put the clocks back 3 hours and got to bed at the new time of 01:30. Our holiday taxi had waited for us too, which felt like bliss. and breathe.....
So here we are in Abu Dhabi, in the Ramada Corniche, room downsizing bit by bit, so we don’t feel the impact of returning to a compact cabin when tomorrow at midday we are picked up to rejoin Arcadia for sector 5, the final part of our world cruise. Back soon x
Queues and behaviour in the queues for immigration were not really suitable for midnight! There was queue rage, people shouting about pushing in, officials speaking to visitors as if they were being well “naughty”. It was best to keep a sense of humour and stay detached, it was over in about 90 minutes. We were actually in transit for 22 hours, but it didn’t feel quite as tiring because we had to put the clocks back 3 hours and got to bed at the new time of 01:30. Our holiday taxi had waited for us too, which felt like bliss. and breathe.....
So here we are in Abu Dhabi, in the Ramada Corniche, room downsizing bit by bit, so we don’t feel the impact of returning to a compact cabin when tomorrow at midday we are picked up to rejoin Arcadia for sector 5, the final part of our world cruise. Back soon x
