Playing cat and mouse...

---

Well, the horrible flight finally came to an end and I was jumping out of the plane like a man pardoned from a long prison sentence. I immediately set course for the various information booths to try to pick up a Bangkok Airport time table, which proved a fruitless attempt. All counters showed me their copy and sent me in the direction of the bookshop on the 2nd floor, which naturally had never heard of the item in question.

I decide to be a bit proactive, skip about the timetable and head directly to the Thai office to make a reservation for Denpasar on August 4. I imagine a line of 500 people in front of me, but there is no one waiting, so this will be a smooth affair. I ask for a ticket to Denpasar on TG431 on August 4th. Sure, the lady says, but then recommends me to go buy it at the Thai ticket office in Silom instead, because they have special promotion. I shake my head a bit and she explains that buying the ticket from here would cost me 21 000 THB, but if I purchase it at the Silom office instead I can get away with 12 500 THB. Sigh... why does the same ticket have to have two prices in the same city? Oh well, I can get that sorted after my main mission.

So instead of wasting more time at the airport (past 2 pm already) I decide to take care of the primary assignment of hurrying to the Uzbekistan Airways ticketing office to pay for and collect my onward ticket to Tashkent before they close for the day.

A mild challenge to get started, and considering the ticket will be voided on 22nd (which is a national holiday) this could be an amusing spanner in the works from the start. I jump into a taxi and show the address card, thoughtfully translated into Thai and the taxi driver goes "CTI Tower... CTI Tower...?" Great...

Anyway, he contacted his radio central and got a lot of directions and off we buzzed. Finally arriving at our destination in the Sukhumvit area I begin to realize it is quite hot. I waltz into the main reception and confidently asks for the Uzbek Airways office waiting to hear the confirmation "Yes, 15th floor Sir". Instead I get an unsure smile and a "They not here". Wonderful.

It turns out they have moved to Silom area so I jump into the first available cab, which incidentially is the same one I came here in, and off to Silom we go. This time we head for the Unity Tower, and I already know the procedure before it begins, "Unity... Unity Tower?" Some attempts later, and with the help of half a dozen people along the way I finally find the well hidden office on the 29th floor. Great!

I walk inside the office confidently exclaiming I want to pick up a ticket only to be told there is no reservation to my name... Eh... of course, why didn't I anticipate this? Welcome to Asia. After some mild confusion it turns out someone has entered my name backwards and the booking is indeed there. They ask me about my visa and I show them my visa support letter and explain about getting a visa on arrival in Taskent. Uh uh, they say, that will not work. Of course not, why would it, that is after all only what I have been told to do. Anyway, I am left with the address for the local Uzbek consulate (over at Sukhumvit, and guess what, they're closed) so I decide to skip on them and trust my local Uzbek agent, although I am getting vivid images in my head of arguments in half Russian, half Uzbek and half English at the airport.

Since I am in Silom I should seek out the Thai office and get that ticket purchased as well. I get the direction pointed out to me (which turns out to be a mild exaggeration) and after being tricked by a large decoy Thai Airways sign over at a travel agent I finally find their office in the corner of a busy intersection. I take a deep breath and cross the streets and walk up to the office and start yanking the locked front door. Closed. Holiday. Wonderful.

At this time I am certain that I am not the victim of a conspiracy, this is just business as usual, still it might have been a bit helpful if, gee... I don't know, maybe I could have got this information directly at the Thai ticketing office at the airport.

I accept my defeat and turn around only to see a big Thai Airways sign across the road, but nothing resembling an office underneath it. Worth a shot. I cross the roads again and ask a woman about the sign. She walks me around the corner (and I am getting my hopes up again...) to a pair of Tuk Tuk drivers and instructs me to go to T.A.T. travel agent on Rama IV, don't let the driver charge more than 30 THB. Her family buys all their tickets there I am told, but somehow her enthusiasm doesn't engulf me, and I decide to haul my bags over to the Skytrain station instead, before I start melting.

I remember there is a travel agent on Pradiphat road near my stop at Saphan Kwai and I go by their office and ask (although I have already accepted defeat) if they can make Thai reservations. Sure they can, and I can get the ticket for the promised 12 500 THB as well. Great! However, it now turns out the flight is fully booked. 100%!f(MISSING)ull. Gaaaaahh... I can't even get a seat in biz class. Dandy...

Now starting to drip I slither away for the last leg to the beloved Karnmanee Palace and collapse on my bed.

---

Photos

The flight from HEL
'nuff said!

Traffic, Bangkok-style
Add plenty of time to your schedule if you plan to travel by car during rush hour.

Finally!
A loooooooong day has finally ended.

A city that rarely sleeps
Saphan Kwai by night.