Kathmandu to Bangkok

7 February 2012

The warm, sticky air that greeted me at the Bangkok airport was in stark contrast to the frigid weather that had had me sleeping in hat and scarf for the past three weeks, and for the moment, I was grateful not to feel cold.

I had once again been lucky at the airport. I had a bit of an ordeal at check-in at Kathmandu trying to get my baggage sent all the way through to Bangkok despite my flight to Delhi and then to Bangkok being on different itineraries and my not knowing the flight number of the connecting flight. (Oops!) I did get my bags in Bangkok, but not until after being sent outside the building to an office that was empty, being sent inside the building to an office that was empty, four trips up to the check-in counter, a close call with security who weren’t convinced the books that I had packed up to mail home (Who knew that post offices in Kathmandu would choose Saturday as the one day a week to be closed?) were actually books, another encounter with security when I realized 15 minutes later that I had been so distracted by convincing them the books were actually books that I had left my small backpack with all my valuables on the conveyer belt there (They gave the backpack back to me, but only after I honored the screener’s request to give her some candy I had inside the pack—“for her child.” While giving up the candy wasn’t a big deal, being asked for it by a security officer was a little bothersome.), and a wait in the airport in Delhi while AirAsia, the operator of the connecting flight, transferred my baggage for me. I learned during that wait in Delhi that AirAsia actually has a policy that doesn’t allow baggage transfers. And, not only do they not allow baggage transfers, they also have a very strict weight limit on their baggage allowance—a limit I was two kilos over. I may be using up my travel karma.

I picked up my baggage without incident in Bangkok and found my transfer to the airport hotel. I checked in to a small, clean room around 3:00 in the morning. The stay was uneventful, bar realizing that what I thought was a scab on my leg was actually a tick. Yuck. I knew it had been on my leg for at least a couple days, but I’m not sure where I got it as I had been wearing long pants (sometimes even two pairs!) for the past three weeks. Hopefully it wasn’t carrying anything grosser than itself. 

It started to move when I pulled it off.
I think I got its head, though!

I transferred to a hostel in Bangkok the following day and then proceeded to have a wander around the city. I took a hostel card and map so I could hopefully make it back there, but then just roamed the streets, turning when it seemed interesting. I ended up walking along the streets of China Town, inside a giant indoor market selling all sorts of kitsch, past several temples, and eventually along Khan San Road, an area full of shopping stalls, bars, and westerners. I enjoyed 67 cent pad Thai prepared roadside for dinner and then used the map and the help of a tuk tuk driver to make the hour walk back to the hotel.