Day 45?

According to Tripit and to my maths, our trip took 45 days. It's possible that I've missed a day or miscounted somewhere in my blog.

But without actually checking, I think this is an Around the World in 80 Days issue. That going right around the globe, and crossing the dateline, seems to have saved us a day. I suppose this was that very long day at the beginning, where the day we left and the day we arrived in Santiago were the same but shouldn't have been.

Day 43-44 - Travelling Home

We started the day with a late and leisurely (and delicious) breakfast, after a very poor night's sleep, at least partly due to jetlag.

Then some packing - which was fairly simple as we've only opened one case here in Bangkok. We went for a walk around the local lanes and streets, but didn't find anything new and it was a bit exhausting, as it remains very hot and humid. It's been in the mid-30s so it's hot even for Bangkok at this time of the year.

We were picked up in the early afternoon and driven to the airport, for a few hours in the lounge and wandering the duty free area before our flight to Singapore. Only a two and a half hour flight.

Singapore at night

A short time in Singapore, which allowed a quick stop in the lounge, then the final flight home on a nice new, comfortable, A350.

Day 42 - Bangkok

Today was our one full day in Bangkok. We set out to see a bit, but didn't have a very clear plan. Initially we decided to start with the Grand Palace - but two people stopped us to say it wasn't open until 12 as the monks were doing something. I'm still not sure if that was correct.

So instead we took the 4bt (20c) ferry across the river to Wat Arun (the Temple of the Dawn), and spent some time walking around there.

Next we got tickets for the hop-on, hop-off ferry. We rode few stops north until it ended, then south as farm as Iconsiam, a new, very large shopping centre. It was lovely and cool and we walked around for a while.

Around 1.30 we went back to our hotel, got organised and went out again to the Grand Palace. Although our hotel is right near it, it turned out we had to walk to the other end of the complex to enter. It was spectacular, there are several large compunds within the complex and each of the is packed with buildings, temples and stupas. They are packed so tightly together it is difficult to get your bearings or be sure you've seen everything. And it was very hot, humid and crowded. We looked around for as long as we could bear before going back to the hotel for a very late lunch and collapsing.

About 6pm we went out again - taking the boat to Chinatown for a quick look around, then down to Iconsiam again, to do some last minute shopping and buy some dumplings. Back via Wat Arun again.

Day 41 - Bangkok

Our flight arrived about 10.30 this morning. We were picked up and it was about an hour's drive to the hotel - on very wide, busy roads, often in slow traffic. We dragged the cases the last 100 metres as the hotel is in a narrow alley.

It's a kind of trendy, industrially designed building with no lift. But it's in a great location and sits directly on the river with view of the temple opposite, including from our room's floor-to-ceiling windows.

After a rest in the airconditioning we went out and walked around the shops and market, then to Wat Pho. This involved a very big reclining Buddha - it really is very long, but there's not a lot of detail between the head and the feet. Also lots of stupas and lots more golden Buddhas - some in rows and then bigger ones each in its own temple.

We then came back to the hotel to rest and tidy up before a really lovely meal in the hotel's restaurant.

Finally we had a drink at the rooftop bar.

Day 40 - UK to Thailand

Another day of travel. An early start, as we didn't know how long it would take us to get to Heathrow - it varies a lot depending on traffic. It turned out not to take that long, perhaps a little over two hours. So we were at Heathrow quite early and settled into the lounge to eat and drink (unnecessarily) and read our books. I also downloaded a lot of the backlog of tv programs, as they had ridiculously fast internet.

Then a short (1 hour 50 minutes) flight to Zurich. Fairly uneventful and quiet, could see a little of the French countryside between clouds. Then amazing views of the alps coming into Zurich, where the cloud was s low it filled the valleys and hills broke through, with the alps in the distance.

We didn't have long in Zurich but the airport was very quiet, so we got to the lounge quickly. A highlight is the automatic doors into the bathrooms, which make a swoosh noise when they open that reminds me of Star Trek (also that the public toilets on the Viking ship had bird noise in the background, which was surprisingly pleasant).

Then a 10.5 hour flight, effectively all overnight. We just saw a hazy bit of Thai countryside at the end of the flight.

Day 39 - Herne Bay and Canterbury

Our last full day in England.

So in the morning we went into Canterbury, parking in the south west corner of the old town and walking through the quiet, chilly streets to the shopping area. Lynn went shopping in Cath Kidson while Tom and I walked along the high street to the North Gate and back.

Then Lynn went on to Marks and Spencer while Tom and I walked along the south eastern city wall to the Dane Jon Mound and then back through the town.

We drove back to Canterbury and had roast beef for Sunday lunch. Then most of the afternoon was spent packing for our flight tomorrow.

Day 38 - Family in Herne Bay

We're leaving in a couple of days, so today several of Lynn's cousins (and some of their offspring, and some of their offspring's partners) visited Jacqui and Tom's place in Herne Bay. This started early afternoon and continued to early evening, but naturally it dominated the rest of the day as well, as Jacqui and Tom, and Lynn, prepared.

It all went well and Lynn was able to see all of the family that she had wished to see.