Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72779
And greetings from the 37th floor of the IC in Bangkok.
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Saying that a thunderstorm is rolling in so it’s getting a lot darker.
A couple of pics from the flight. SWEEEEEEEEEEEET turtle themed A380 on the ramp at Narita.
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And getting feet dry just north of Da Nang crossing our tracks from shade over 4 months ago. Seems a lifetime ago.
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Whilst we were worried about getting from DMK airport to the hotel, I take it all back. It didn’t take long to get through immigration & customs (SWMBO was a bit miffed she got fingerprinted & I didn’t), picked up dosh at an ATM (£4 fees, ouch) got a 7 days/9gb data sim for £4.65, straight on the A2 bus to the Skytrain, got the skytrain to the hotel, all in under an hour from getting off the aircraft. Job’s a good ‘un.
One of the Club Lounge perks is free flowing teas, coffee & soft drinks, though never had iced lattes in pint glasses before.
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And this place has got to get the prize for fasted weefee I’ve ever seen. Makes yer head spin!
Catch y’all later, twiddling thumbs in the lounge for a bit as room isn’t ready as previous guest used the late (4pm) check out perk. Something we’ll be doing on Sunday.
PS Did someone say rain?
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4th Jul 2019 10:52 am
ianm27
Member Since: 02 Jun 2016
Location: Hertfordshire
Posts: 2154
Great pics and superb write up as usual Del
Now you're back to the restfulness of Thailand Sawadee Krap Uncle Ray's spare wheel protector
Limo Tint
Blackvue front & rear dashcam
Cruise control switch pack
Bodsy's remote for FBH
4th Jul 2019 1:07 pm
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72779
Have to confess we don’t know any Thai whatsoever. We picked up a few Vietnamese phrases, some Japanese words but nothing here yet. Mind you SWMBO’s a little worried re the pronunciation so might just stick with “hi” and “ta”. https://www.listenandlearnusa.com/blog/top...-thailand/
Last edited by DSL on 5th Jul 2019 1:34 pm. Edited 6 times in total
5th Jul 2019 11:45 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72779
5th Jul 2019 11:46 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72779
Just seen how bad it is in Kyushu, the southern “big” island in Japan. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-48850111 1,000mm of rain in a week. We stayed in Kagoshima and it’s a fairly big place, same population as Bristol, and it’s under compulsory evacuation. Saying that only 4,000 peeps have left. Brings a whole new context to “the rainy season”.
5th Jul 2019 12:49 pm
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72779
And greetings from Cocktail hours, well the first of two hours. View over the Bangkok Sports Club track with a golf course in the middle. Now that’s nifty thinking.
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Note very odd building in distance, looks like it’s had a bad dose of building eating Thai termites!
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Pics from limited travels today, will bung text in after scoff.
It was wet this morning, not that bad but bad enough to not try out the obligatory tuktuk. We’ll leave that for dryer days. In the dry season. When it’s not raining. Means in the words of Arnie, we’ll be back.
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Now this was weird. We’d left Hokkaido just over a week ago and find suddenly those lovely scrumptious tarts have been following us. Re the secret recipe, it’s not so secret in Hokkaido.
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We had a wander around a shopping mall here, the largest in Bangkok, realised they had NOTHING in my size, XL max. I need to go on diet.
Then down to the ferries on the main river. It was raining, we were a bit knackered/uninspired/didn’t know what to do so just stayed on the orange flagged ferry all the way, cheap as chips for 40p each way but really good to see river life in Bangkok. One thing we did notice is the number of dead catfish floating down stream, maybe one every 10 minutes. At first we thought O2 starvation or pollution but when we saw them being fed at temples we concluded they died after a long and happy life being fed bread, pellets and coloured puffed wheat snacks. The Thais seriously like feeding the fish outside the Wats.
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We were on an orange flagged ferry like this one. 15 baht for a ride. Basic but does the job, and once away from the tourist sites we were in our comfort zones, the only non locals on the boat.
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This is the building site that is the new Thai Houses of Parliament. It’s going to be quite an imposing sight when it’s finished.
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And more temples before we got off the ferry and on the packed/rammed/stuffed Skytrain back to the hotel for an afternoon of watching Mad Max:Fury Road.
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We’re thinking of taking a brave pill and heading up to Ayutthaya temple complex tomorrow, regardless of the weather. That’s going to be interesting as it will be our first experience of Thai railways. Looking forward to it, if somewhat nerviously.
PS SWMBO says too much wine is not the same as brave pills. She may have a point.
Last glass, honest.
5th Jul 2019 1:33 pm
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72779
Morning all, booooootiful morning in Bangkok. View from, not of, breakie. Only 2 more sleeps before heading back home.
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6th Jul 2019 3:07 am
Pelyma
Member Since: 06 Jan 2005
Location: Patching, Sussex
Posts: 15496
That is so selfish What are we going to do without your reports each day?DS3 TDV6 HSE - Silver with Alpaca (old one) Gone
DS3 TDV6 HSE- Silver with Alpaca (new one) Gone
D4 HSE Lux - Montalcino Red Gone
Porsche Cayenne V8 Diesel S
6th Jul 2019 7:14 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72779
Patience you must have my young padawan.
It’s a big world out there and there may be plans afoot to see a bit more of it.
6th Jul 2019 9:34 am
jambo27
Member Since: 26 Oct 2010
Location: Staffordshire
Posts: 89
DSL wrote:
, picked up dosh at an ATM (£4 fees, ouch)
For travelling I have started using Revoult - to be honest its better at the day to day UK banking than my regular high street bank. I have one main GBP account (with standard UK account and sort code numbers for easy transfer from UK accs) and then I have a number of currency accounts in the app EUR, USD etc and justvtransfer money from GBp to appropriate account as and when needed. They send you a contactless card and thats all I take with me overseas. The system recognises the transaction currency takes the correct currency out of the correct account so when I am in USA it takes payment feom my USD account and EUR when in Europe and obbiously GBP if I use it in UK. I think there are approx 25-30 currencies you can have an account in so covers most peoples travel requirements. All conversions in the app are at mid market rates so far better than banks or money exchanges.
Only drawback so far I have found is £200 limit per month on ATM withdrawls before they charge 2% of amount. Not so much of an issue for me because 95% of places take card payments and there are no limits on that but could be an issue for people travelling remotely.
Account setup and maitainence is free - although they have some other accounts for a monthly fee which have higher ATM withdrawl limits and various benefits. They do charge for card delivery but at the moment they have an offer where thry will deliver card for free if you transfer £10 into your account ( you can transfer it in, get free card and then transfer it back out)
I am in now way connected to Revelout and there are a number of other companies offering very similar options.
6th Jul 2019 10:14 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72779
We use a debit card that has no fees for overseas transactions, unfortunately that doesn’t stop the “local” fees. Thailand seems to be particularly high, Vietnam was not too bad and we used 7-eleven in Japan as no fees most of the time. We could have found an atm in Bangkok with lower fees but we needed cash for data sim, bus & Skytrain so it was a case of just march up to the first atm & insert plastic.
Will have a look at Revoult but £200 is far too low a limit in countries where cash is king so would prob just stick to present debit card and the Clarity card where we need to use a credit card.
PS One place where we thought we’d only use plastic was Japan but we were really surprised how many places/attractions/transport links were cash only. Even MickyDees in some places wouldn’t accept Mastercard plastic.
Also we have to sort out a Visa card of some sort as we’ve found quite a few places, esp in Malaysia, where you got discounts when playing by Visa.
6th Jul 2019 10:26 am
ianm27
Member Since: 02 Jun 2016
Location: Hertfordshire
Posts: 2154
We are going to have serious withdrawl symptoms:
No exotic food pics
No unusual drinks pics
No spectacular (and some not so spectacular) panoramic views
No bald head pics
No SWMBO dragon pics
What ever will we do Uncle Ray's spare wheel protector
Limo Tint
Blackvue front & rear dashcam
Cruise control switch pack
Bodsy's remote for FBH
6th Jul 2019 1:12 pm
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72779
What do you mean, not so spectacular panoramic views?
It was a setting that I didn’t know existed until this trip, then the phrase “this calls for a pano” has rung out at every spectacular, and not so spectacular, view.
6th Jul 2019 1:31 pm
Pelyma
Member Since: 06 Jan 2005
Location: Patching, Sussex
Posts: 15496
DSL wrote:
Patience you must have my young padawan.
It’s a big world out there and there may be plans afoot to see a bit more of it.
Excellent, get on with it then. I’m living my travelling vicariously through you and I need a holiday! DS3 TDV6 HSE - Silver with Alpaca (old one) Gone
DS3 TDV6 HSE- Silver with Alpaca (new one) Gone
D4 HSE Lux - Montalcino Red Gone
Porsche Cayenne V8 Diesel S
6th Jul 2019 1:43 pm
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72779
The plans are in the early stage but will involve a lot less looking out Airbus/Boeing windows at scenery from 30odd thousand feet. I’ve already come up with the acronym for the trip, based on. The BRA, big rail adventure. Though SOB might be more appropriate, Singapore or Bust.
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What are we going to do without your reports each day?
