Our round the world trip (1): getting to first base
We have been together for over three decades now and done lots of wonderful travelling as a couple, the last decade and a half mainly outside of our home continent of Europe. We have long harboured a wish to visit Australia and New Zealand, the one continent we have never experienced, but knew that it was so far away and would take so much time and money that it was probably something we would do only once and would have to be carefully scheduled into our busy lives (plus we would have to wait for the cat to die).
Four years ago, we decided that we would definitely make the trip; a year ago, the cat finally departed this world after almost 20 years; and, six months ago, we booked an escorted tour with Kuoni so far ahead that Roger could minimise the number of missed meetings in his portfolio career.
We were always clear that we did not want to make the flight out or the flight back in one journey – the distance is just too great and the jet lag would be just too severe. Therefore we decided to break the journey out with a few days in Bangkok and to break the journey home with a few days in San Francisco, so we would literally go round the world. This is indeed going to be the trip of a lifetime – the BIG one.
Day 1 (Tuesday) was very short – just final domestic arrangements, careful packing for a month, and getting to London’s Heathrow Airport. Our British Airways Boeing 747-400 lifted off at 10,30 pm, so technically it was a night time flight to Bangkok but, since we were flying east at speed, it was soon light outside and we had to draw the window shutters, pretend it was night, and try to manage some sleep.
Day 2 (Wednesday) was effectively another short one. The flight was ten and a half hours, so we landed at 9 am London time but – since Thailand is seven hours ahead of UK time – it was 4 pm in Bangkok. Suvarnabhumi Airport is uber-large and ultra-new (opened in 2006). We were delighted to be met by a Kuoni representative but, since it was rush hour, our car from the airport to the hotel took almost two hours to make a journey that normally lasts about 45 minutes.
Once at the LIT Bangkok Hotel near to the National Stadium, there was only time, therefore, to unpack in our spacious “Extra Radiance Room”, have a light meal in the hotel cafe, access the free Wi-Fi with Roger’s iPad and Vee’s iPad mini, and head for bed.