Back to Blighty!

The pool at the Bangkok Shangri-La Hotel

Now, dear reader, I realise we are not quite there yet, but it is now true that Captain Clarke and I have left Bangkok. It was with not a little sadness that we left the luxury and comfort of the Bangkok Shangri-La, (Horizon Club Room of course!), and departed, along with our guide Belle, (who has previously been referred to by some in our party as Mrs Mao!), to the airport. As an aside, I am led to believe she has what some of the younger generation refer to as ‘the hots’ for Captain Clarke. Although I am, by now, fluid in Thai, I wasn’t quite sure how to say, ‘You’re not only barking up the wrong tree, but you’re in the wrong chuffing forest, dear!’ However, what is clear is that she would very much like an English gentleman, (actually, any old man will do!), preferably with funds, to take her and support her. (It will require a somewhat strong willed character as she is quite formidable for someone of only about 4 feet 5 inches!)

Our last look at a longtail boat on the Chao Phraya!

Anyway, it was, unfortunately, time for us to take one last look at the lovely Chao Phraya river and head off. On arrival at the airport Belle accompanied us to the check-in desks and then onwards until the very last minute when we passed through security. We said our goodbyes and that was that, we were on our way home. I should mention, dear reader, that at this juncture we had checked in our cases which will be travelling directly to Heathrow without us collecting them again in Doha. This suited both Captain Clarke and myself as we saw no advantage in lugging our cases through Doha airport just to lug them back again a few hours later. We had packed sufficient change of clothes etc. in our hand luggage in anticipation that this might be the case. We were told when we left London that our ticket did not permit us to take luggage off the plane in Doha and, since we were not prepared, a special exception was made so that we could. On our return we would rather not collect luggage in Doha, so we didn’t!

A display dedicated to the ‘Churning of the Ocean of Milk’

Having cleared security and immigration, (it seems an odd name since we were leaving not coming!), we made our way to the Thai Royal Silk lounge. There are, in fact, two Thai Airways lounges that are opposite each other, the other being the Royal Orchid Lounge, but this is dedicated to Thai Airways passengers and the Royal Silk Lounge is used by Qatar Airways. We made a quick detour via the duty free shops but, in all honesty, we found them to be quite expensive and quite a bit of the produce to be of relatively poor quality. There was, though, a fantastic display of Buddhas, (what else?!), dedicated to the ‘Churning of the Ocean of Milk’. Captain Clarke and I took seats in the lounge and availed ourselves of the rather good Scottish whisky that was on offer. Here we discovered another vital piece of information for our journey – there are no announcements in the lounge. This was somewhat of a surprise to us as we had specifically been asked at check-in if we would stay in the lounge until we were called, so this is what we did. It was only after a quick trip to use the facilities, (yes, the problem remains), that I discovered that the ‘Final Call’ had been made and that the gate was closing. I suggested to Captain Clarke that we should go to the gate and, when we got there, we discovered that we were almost the last onto the aircraft – there were just three people who arrived after us that had got lost in the airport!

Captain Clarke and myself in the lounge at Bangkok

Our flight from Bangkok to Doha passed without incident. Having been served dinner and a rather average glass, (or two), of Sauvignon Blanc I settled down for a snooze. I awoke some three hours later only 45 minutes before we landed in Qatar! Captain Clarke apparently hadn’t slept and complained that it had been pretty boring. However, our arrival in Qatar was a few minutes early and, having disembarked the aircraft we began the very long walk to immigration. When we arrived at immigration we found something else of interest that we did not realise on our arrival from London – Qatar Airways have their own dedicated arrivals and immigration lounge! When we arrived at immigration we were advised that we should turn to our left to a door marked ‘Business and First Class’ and, having entered this lounge we were offered refreshments whilst everything was checked before we passed through our own dedicated immigration desk. There was no queue and, having paid our entry visa, we were through in absolutely no time!

The inevitable view from our room at the Rotana!

In fact, we were through so quickly that our driver, who had his sign already prepared and ready, had only just parked and hadn’t quite arrived at the arrivals hall when we arrived. He seemed quite disappointed not to have been able to use his sign! We drove to the Oryx Rotana hotel and checked in without a hitch. My first action was to book a car for the morning to take us back to the airport. Although there is a shuttle bus which runs every 30 minutes, we were advised that it could take up to an hour depending on traffic which I considered too long to be sat on a bus, so I booked a car. We went for a quick drink in the Jazz Club at the hotel and retired. I was a little disappointed that we felt we were somewhat cheated in the Jazz Club. We ordered two large whiskies, (well, there is no point in ordering a single!), and, when they arrived, they were definitely not large – we could make an easy comparison since whisky in Thailand is served in measures of 50ml, (very sensible), and a double in the Jazz Club should have been 60ml, but was nowhere near as large as those in Thailand. My second disappointment was that, despite ordering the cheapest whisky on the menu, (nothing is cheap when it comes to booze in Qatar!), we were charged for the more expensive whisky which, it was claimed, we had had. There is no way to prove this, but a lesson has been learned!

I write this short report, dear reader, from my room in the hotel in Doha. Once again, unfortunately, fate has worked against us and we haven’t had the opportunity to see the Good Doctor and his long suffering wife. Having arrived late last night, (around midnight by the time we goto the hotel), and leaving this morning, (which is a working day anyway), we simply had no opportunity. Next time we will have to make sure the flights give us some time! Great Uncle Bulgaria and Madame Cholet are following us a couple of days behind but will, unfortunately, have the same problem as their flight times are the same as ours. We have some 40 minutes before our car will be ready to take us back to the airport and I thought this would be a wise use of my time.

The Qatar Airways lounge at Doha

Having now arrived back at the new Hamas International Airport in Doha and having installed ourselves once again in the lounge, I am able to report, (you may recall, dear reader, my earlier report on the lounge at Doha and a certain person’s inability to hear my advice that there was, indeed, a restaurant), there is not one restaurant in the lounge, there are two! There is also a business lounge, (where we sat on our previous visit), a business centre, a games room, 6 coffee bars, children’s room, prayer room, family room and goodness knows what other facilities. It is, one might say, very well equipped!

I make no promises of a further update as I can foresee nothing of interest happening between now and when we finally arrive back in good old Blighty. That having been said, I shall, of course, submit a report should an appropriate occurrence occur! I have just checked the weather forecast and I am informed there is a 100% chance of rain with a temperature of 10 degrees, feeling like 6 degrees. What a joy it will be to be back in English weather! With that, dear reader, I shall end this report. I hope you have enjoyed reading my musings on our travels.

We have had some very good times, some not so good times, (Asian A**e being a case in point), but all in all, a thoroughly good trip. Captain Clarke has demonstrated a stoic ability to keep his end up and has sampled the local liquor and the more well known Scottish varieties, as well as the local foods, at every opportunity. Great Uncle Bulgaria is being measured up for an ear trumpet as we speak, Madame Cholet is beginning to recover from her own version of Asian A**e and I, my dear reader, am now fluid in many Far Eastern languages and have lost over 1.5kg in weight, so here is a new fact for your diary … holidays are slimming! It’s RudyMenTerry!

See the photo gallery for this post here