Bangkok

After all the work, and multitude of details for departure, we said farewell to Cardiff and drove to LAX at 3:30 am to catch our morning flight to Bangkok.   Comfortable in our business class reclining "bed seats" we flew 16 hours to Hong Kong watching movies and finding sleep evasive.  Upon arrival in Hong Kong, we found our way to the calm and quiet business class lounge where we immediately procured two small rooms to take hot showers, and get refreshed.  Still, with a four hour layover, we began to fade and it was so tiring waiting for the flight.  Finally we boarded and finished the journey in 2.5 hours to Bangkok.   We had priority passes which allowed Ron and me to zip through the visa on arrival process.  No long lines for us.  Then we collected our bags, cashed some dollars into Thai Baht, and worked our way outside into the balmy air to catch a taxi into town.  No traffic at 2 a.m. so we got to our hotel within an hour.  We had miscalculated our arrival date so we had to hope that even though we arrived well past midnight on the fifteenth, we could have our room which they required us to pay for as if it was the fourteenth.  Everything was fine and we were in our bed and exhausted by 3:00 am.  All in all with the drive from home and the waiting and the flights, we had been on the road almost 30 hours.  

The morning sounds woke us as the taxi boats and barges working the Chai Phraya River winding through the heart of BKK came to life outside our hotel.  We had breakfast in the open garden alongside the river and beneath the flowering trees that had grown a lot since we were last here.  Now the air was perfumed with the scent of pink jasmine and the exhaust from the long tail boats working their way up and down the river.  Breakfast consisted of pitch black coffee no amount of cold milk could improve, lovely sliced papaya, banana, pineapple, watermelon and dragon fruit with cool yogurt and musli.  The heat came forth with a vengeance and the humidity sucked the strength out of us.  We wandered down the small alleys, called Soi, and felt invigorated just to be back in our familiar hood.  People were already sitting at small Formica tables on tiny plastic red and blue stools eating fragrant noodle soup, the locals choice of breakfast food.  Motorcycles were weaving through the strolling tourist, dressed in every imaginable color and pattern. Later the narrow streets were crowded with people in funky reclining chaise, one next to the other, in various states of bliss as armies of young Thai boys and girl's massaged their feet.  Smells of grilled meats and fish filled the air, vendors offering fruit shakes and fruit salads and fruit slices in plastic bags.  Large mounds of fresh noodles and veggies were awaiting your order so cooks could throw it all into a hot wok and stir fry your Pad Thai in minutes.  Everywhere food.  Delicious smells of food and the sewer comingled.  Colors and colorful, beautiful and ugly, unique and strange... All your senses are heightened from the onslaught of everything, while you are jet lagged and trying to avoid stepping in a hole, or off an uneven curb, or run over by the many motorbikes coming at you from the opposite direction.  That coupled with the humidity and the heat and the haze takes a toll.  But you feel so ALIVE, so amazed by the whole "Fellini" movie taking place around you.  

Later we meet up with our friends Mark and Luci who are traveling for the first time in Asia.  We had so much fun enjoying their enthusiasm at the scene.  We walked down the middle of Khao San Road and had afternoon lunch sitting street side drinking cold Singha beers and eating stir fried noodles at The Central, an old establishment of long standing.  Some of the waitresses and waiters have been there for ever.   That night we went to a quieter Soi for dinner, of curries and stir fried veggies, at our old favorite Ranees.   The new location is in a quiet garden with lots of bicycle memorability and Jasmine trees.   A cool breeze came through and it felt so refreshing, and necessary.

The day's slowly passed in a kind of haze.  We were tired from the jet lag and the lack of quality sleep.  It took us two days to get our SIM cards for our phone and iPad.  We have never traveled with a phone before!  Like old dinosaurs learning new tricks.   We swam in the pool, wandered the Soi, shopped, ate and enjoyed the company of our friends.

Our third morning a medical emergency roared it's scary head.  Ronnie realized he had a swollen testicle.  (He has graciously given me permission to write about his private parts). We were alarmed but in our laid back fashion, we decided to treat with ice and Aleve.  24 hours later and no improvement, we decided further action was necessary.  It is very scary to be in a foreign city without references or knowledge and have a medical problem.  We researched the symptoms, got a sense of what it could be and then looked up hospitals and clinics.  Fortunately I recognized the foreign name of a hospital in an upscale area of BKK that a well traveled friend of ours had mentioned he had gone to.  We went by taxi in rush hour traffic for over an hour to Samitivej Hospital.  We walked in and went to the desk where one of the young receptionist asked what our problem was.  We told her a swollen testicle.  She immediately escorted us to another desk where they asked us to fill out only one page of questions, and took Ron's photo.  Then we were escorted to the Urology department where we waited in comfortable large chairs with back pillows and complimentary bottles of fresh water.  Ron had his blood pressure taken and within ten minutes we were in a private room speaking with the young Urologist.  He did a physical, and prostate exam, and then he suggested an ultrasound and urine test which Ron completed immediately with another MD.  Then after an hour or so when the results of the test came back, the urologist had us return to his office and showed us on the computer the ultrasound images and explained Ron's condition, called Hydrocele. He then gave us two, ten day courses of antibiotics and anti inflammatory meds, just in case we needed a second course while in Cambodia.  They prepared a CD for us to take to Ron's MD at home, and within three hours, and prompt careful attention, we were charge a total of $228!  It should be so easy at home!

So we felt better and confident that we could proceed the next day on our journey to Chiang Mai, the former seat of the Lanna Kingdom, and now a modern, laid back place to relax.  More to come.....