-40to+40 in 4 months Thailand 3 centre trip pre trip and travel day

[katiec68]

Well the trip name has come about as we had booked to go to Canada in January - where it can be -40 (Well we've had -35! ) when on Boxing day DH woke with a trapped nerve in his back so once the insurance money was received we booked to go to Thailand - which was 40deg most days!

Link to pre-trip - need to work out how to do it properly!
http://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/show...to_threadtools

We finally here - although its not been that long - we only booked in late January!

Andy was working from home for 1/2 a day - he’s hoping to get a massive order that he's been working on for months before we go but it only materialises a week after we get home. I popped out for my physio at 830 and got back at 10 by the time i got there and back.
I have developed a massive cold over the last 3 days - I could resemble Rudolf in the nose stakes right now so I make sure I have at least 3 packets of tissues in my hand luggage!
I finish off the packing - we’re bound to have forgotten something (as we find out later in the trip). I managed to do this without the inevitable row (or do i? ), we have a bit of lunch tidy up the kitchen, wash up the last bits and we were off.
Well - we dint quite avoid the inevitable row…… Mr C (his name when he's in the bad books!) had been moaning all week that it was going to be cold going between the carpark and the hotel and wanted to wear his jeans. I spend ages telling him to man up, that it was only going to be a 15 minute walk if we managed to hop off the bus early to the hotel, that it was going to be 40deg in Bangkok and that I didn't want to carry a pair of jeans around for 2 weeks that we didn't need! Especially as we already had far to much luggage with us anyway! I told him to man up and just get on with it but he refused so he went off in his jeans - which we then carried around from the next morning for 2 weeks! So we finally left home around 230pm which is about what I expected and off we went to Heathrow.
We had a great journey up - arrived at the Premier Inn, Bath Road, around 430pm, checked in, dropped the bags to our room - we’ve only got a rubbishy courtyard view but its a only for the night so its ok (I thought i had a photo but I cant find it - mind you there wasnt much to see! )

Then its back to the car and off to the long stay car park - managed to find a deal for £70 for 17 nights so we’re quite happy with that. Last time we stayed here we managed to hop off the transfer bus at the traffic lights just round the corner from the hotel and and avoid an hours round trip and the £5 charge each - Andy hates paying this! After Mr C having a bit of a set to with the driver about being an adult and not minding crossing the road on his own we jumped off the bus at the traffic lights and quickly marched back to the hotel. It WAS cold but I was in shorts and a cardi and I managed fine.

We had a great dinner at the hotel - this is the 3rd or 4th time we've stayed here and always been impressed with it. I had my first glass of wine for 3 months, quickly followed by another one which wasnt such good idea but it kinda set the tone for the rest of our evening meals :-)


Travel day

We were up at 7am and straight down to breakfast - again a good choice and we filled our faces as who knows when were going to eat again - well in truth we’ll be eating at the airport and on the plane but we didn't want to take any chances!
We got the 8am bus to the airport. Check in was quick and easy and we went straight through security without any issues.
As part of our booking we had access to the Aer Lingus lounge - so after a quick walk round off we went up to the lounge.

Andy loved it - i though it was just a bit too quiet and there were no food offerings apart from some cornflakes and some pastries that looked like they had been out for a while. Im glad it was free as I wouldn't have paid for it. Andy said he loved it and that this is they way forward. I missed the hustle and bustle of the terminal so popped out on my own for a while. Ended up with a couple of bits from Boots - some No7 serum which was under 1/2 price and some lippy which I tried on, liked and bought but was greeted with a laugh and “what have you done to your lips” when I got back to the lounge. Ok so it was a lovely bright pink but my new lippy is still in its bag (ill save it for the next girls night out! )

We flew Thai Airways and they were brilliant - would happily fly with them again.
We wandered down to the gate - there didn't seem to be too many people there considering it was an A380 - only about 5 people went up when they asked for Business/First class passengers so I was a bit gutted we hadn't asked at bag drop how much an upgrade would be.

Given my job I had a good look about at our fellow passengers to see who might be going out for nefarious reasons - well we were going to Bankgok so it would be wrong not to - I'm sure anyone else would have done the same thing - you don't need a “professional” eye for that kind of thing!
We were seated at the back just behind the ELR seats - although I would say that the plane was only 1/3 full. The couple infront asked if they could go upstairs and we followed suit. This area wasnt available to us when we did check in the day before. A few of the airlines that use the A380s have all of upstairs as Business/First but there are around 60 economy seats there with Thai. Out of the 60 or so seats upstairs I think there were about 15 of us so plenty of room for everyone.

We left just about on time at 1230. Drinks were served nice and quickly and nothing was too much trouble. Dinner was served about 1.5 hours into the flight - fabulous meal too - you could bring the menu up on the screen and they steward came round and asked what we fancied - almost like UC service!

I think it was something like a beef curry and it was lovely!

Although it was a day flight we were due to arrive in Bangkok around 7am so we both tried to get a few hours sleep. I also watched some programmes I had downloaded on my phone - I love Stacey Dooleys documentaries, as well as a documentary made by a man who's dad was a lifelong heroin user - great holiday viewing! As well as a couple of the documentaries on the plane - one about Christian Laboutain which was great and Im more determined to have a pair of his shoes now!

So thats travel day over until we arrive after our 5am breakfast tomorrow!

[letty]

Ooh good you've started a trip report, looking forward to reading this!

[Tink75]

Yay you've started! That flight looks very comfortable!

[Tink75]

Waiting patiently Katie :-)

Bet you are glad you aren't there now - they've had rain for days and it's not letting up which is a shame, but I guess it is the Monsoon season from end April - you went just before it started!

[katiec68]

Originally Posted by Tink75

Waiting patiently Katie :-)

Bet you are glad you aren't there now - they've had rain for days and it's not letting up which is a shame, but I guess it is the Monsoon season from end April - you went just before it started!

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Hi - sorry

Work has kinda got in the way this week (had a late turn on monday, golf after work on tues and a riding lesson on wed so by the time I've got home its been too late to start!) and I'm working this weekend but I'm off monday and tuesday so i'll promise ill get a few more days up.

My notebook is close to hand and all the photos are uploaded so we're good to go!

I must admit I haven't looked at the weather but yes - rain for days on end would be quite miserable :-( Yes the end of May is the start of monsoon season so we had a lucky escape!

Katie x x