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Published: September 9th 2015
We had overnighted at the Rydges Airport hotel last night. Daughter Jenni had kindly dropped us there around 9-45pm as we hadn’t fancied the frustrating experience of battling Sydney’s morning peak-hour(s) traffic this morning, to be at the airport by 8am. Anyone who has driven in peak-hour traffic in Sydney knows what a nightmare this can be. Normally, we are about a 45-minute drive from the airport (on a good day) but, during peak-hour traffic, this can easily stretch to at least an hour-and-a half to 2 hours.
Yesterday had been a long day in the lead-up to getting away, with a multitude of last-minute things that needed doing. I had also had to squeeze in a doctor’s and a chiropractor’s appointment, which both took considerable time out of my day.
Having been battling severe bronchitis for the last three months, which then led to asthma (which I have never had before in my entire life) has left me still trying to shake it off. Over the worst of it now, but still left with a rather nasty cough which sent me off at the last-minute to get a letter from the doctor to take with me. (Thanks, Jen,
for the heads-up)
Just as well for, not only did he give me the letter but also the news that, on top of everything else, I also now have a chest infection. More drugs!
In this day and age and air travel being so common, and with authorities being extremely careful about all kinds of viruses, etc., I wanted something to verify I wasn’t suffering from some awful quarantine-able disease in the event that I might be queried. Although, why I should worry, I don’t know, with people here on the plane, coughing and sneezing and spluttering all around me.
With all that’s been happening with me health-wise for the last few months and also having had hand surgery the end of June, I’ve been feeling a bit broken these days and very limited in my activities. Even though the surgery went well and recovery has been good, my hand is still quite stiff and painful, although improving each day. At least now, I am out of the splint.
Hoping that I would be well and truly over all my maladies by the time we travelled, didn’t quite pan out the way I’d hoped. The bronchitis
and asthma really knocked the stuffing out of me, leaving me with energy levels and stamina at a very low ebb. I can never remember a time when I have felt less like traveling than I have for this holiday, certainly on a big trip like this one is going to be. The very thought of what it would entail, just took way too much energy to contemplate.
However, I am hoping that a change of climate and a few weeks in the tropics will clear up all my respiratory issues. Hopefully that, and the bucket-load of pharmaceuticals and asthma-related puffers I am carrying with me. The bottom of my bag, as well as my hand-luggage, is chokka with various types of medication. Some to be taken night and morning; some before food; some after food; some once a day; some not to be taken within 2 hours of something else; as well as a quick-fix puffer for when a violent coughing-fit takes hold. With all these instructions, it’s hard to keep up! Oh! And don’t forget the malaria tablets as well.
Anyway, enough of that – back to the holiday.
Our flight was leaving at 10.00am
and we had to be at the airport by 8am and, seeing that the hotel was right across the road from the terminal, this meant only a few minutes’ walk. Having checked in overnight, all we really had to do was go to bag-drop and the online check-in counter.
Things seemed to be moving rather slowly for the minimal amount of people who were in front of us until we realized that the automated luggage conveyor had broken down, with staff having to manhandle bulky suitcases and bags and assorted other gear, which considerably slowed things up.
First hurdle over, we then had a couple things to do (another trip to the chemist to pick up some more medication and extra cough lollies) and to buy Ted another hat, as he had left his at home – we then headed to the departure gate. Note to self … never travel during Chinese New Year or on a flight that is leaving at 10am in the morning! Wall-to-wall people. (It’s all of those overseas 6am flight arrivals having disgorged all of their passengers; been cleaned, refueled and re-stocked, and now ready to return back to where they originally came
from.
By now, it was 9am and, as I looked at the hundreds of people doing the cattle-crush-shuffle, thought – hmmm …..
Asked our friendly security person if we would make it through in time to catch our flight, who assured me that the lines were moving quite quickly and, yes, we should be right. “Should be” really doesn’t instil a great deal of confidence in me and, I only hoped he knew what he was talking about, seeing as how he worked there every day so should have a “feel” for these things.
Finally through immigration and then security, which took 40 minutes – for once, Ted didn’t have to have the “magic wand” waved over him, checking for explosives residue, even though I did have to do the James Bond thing again and assume the “caught-in-a-hold-up” position in the cylindrical booth – and, also, for once, didn’t have to have a hand-search done to any of my hand luggage! A first, for both of us!
By now, it was 9-40am and the flight closes 10 minutes before departure and, once again, we have the (almost) furthermost departure gate – Gate 59. They only go
to 63!
No time to dally or for duty-free (will get that at the other end), off we went at a rather spirited walk and were ¾ of the way there, just as they were giving a final boarding call over the PA.
Onboard and seated in seats 65A and 65C (lucky us with a seat in between – yay!!) the flight is fairly full with only a few spare seats. We always prefer the back of the plane as there is more room. And, just for the record – we weren’t the last ones on board. Seems as though our little security man did know what he was talking about, but there was certainly no time to spare.
Left right on time at 10am as we were pushed out from the terminal. A 20-minute taxi to the end of the 3
rd runway; a 5-minute wait in the queue, and we were away at 10.25am. There were 3 flights ahead of us and 3 behind in the queue.
Take-off was a bit bumpy for, it’s looking like a warm day in the making so, thermal activity was creating a bit of turbulence.
Flying Thai Airways
flight TG 476 to Bangkok – 9 hours and 5 minutes. Boeing 747-400. Older aircraft, but been on a lot worse. Movie selection a bit ho-hum, either that, or anything I may have wanted to watch, I have already seen so, contented myself on gazing out the window or catching up on my journal.
Our flight path had us heading west over the city and over “Wet ‘n Wild” theme park (that our kids love to go to in the summer); Prospect Reservoir (that provides much of Sydney’s water supply); the Nepean River at Penrith (sighting the spillway of Warragamba Dam in the distance) and approaching the foothills of the Blue Mountains. Within a few minutes, the spectacular cliff faces of the escarpment that make up a lot of the mountain landscape, came into view.
I could see Bell’s Line of Road below us, snaking its way up and over the mountains; the Darling Causeway at the summit, reaching across to Mt. Victoria in the distance and then our flight passing just to the right of the town (beg your pardon), the City of Lithgow. I could pin-point these locations quite easily for, this is the route we
take over the mountains when we, as a family, go camping at Hartley, near Lithgow.
Within half an hour of take-off, we were flying over Dubbo where brother, Glenn and sister-in-law Bonny, live. To drive there, is about a 5-6 hour drive.
We flew at 26,000ft for the first couple of hours at a ground speed of 835kph. It’s approx. 8,000kms to Bangkok.
Were soon over outback Australia and the desolate and infinite expansiveness of the inland. Dry at this time of the year. Many salt (dry) lakes and salt pans, Channel Country (in the Wet, these would be creeks and rivers criss-crossing the country); very little or no vegetation. Desert country. Roads clearly visible crossing the desolate isolation. Roads? Probably nothing more than wheel tracks when you were actually at ground level.
Water courses, and areas that would be lakes and rivers in the Wet (November to March) when the monsoon season comes to the Top End and the heavy rains take weeks to run down to finally fill our inland rivers, now only look like veins and arteries on the dry and parched landscape.
Lunch arrived and I lucked out with both choices
available today. Didn’t fancy either choice but, went with the chicken dish, the lesser of two evils. Lunch was (for me) – a Thai chicken curry with pumpkin cubes and green beans. Quite nice, if I liked curry of any description, but, getting a bit hot by the time I got to the end of it. A small turkey and potato salad with mustard seeds; a small cube of orange cake (very moist) and cheese and crackers. A nicely chilled chardonnay went very well with it with all of this. The cabin crew came around each little while with a bottle of red and a bottle of white and topped up your glass if you wanted. Tea and coffee then followed just as we hit some turbulence so, consequently, went everywhere. Lunch for Ted was some kind of fish dish which he said was mediocre as it was quite dry.
By 1pm, we were just to the west of Mt. Isa in Central Qld. Almost half of our flying time to Bangkok, will still be over the Australian continent. On trips to Europe, it takes about 5 (flying) hours to cross the West Australian coastline from Sydney.
By
1.45pm, we were now over the Northern Territory and flying north-east of Alice Springs. Turbulence again but, not too bad. Massive salt lakes and clay pans can be seen below us. “Roads” stretch for miles, as straight as a die, possibly having been put in as access roads by mining companies over the years. Some appear to be on a grid system. Some green vegetation on low hills. Still no houses or communities visible. Don’t ever let anyone tell you that you can’t see anything from a plane window, flying at 30,000-40,00ft. There’s heaps, if you just look and take notice.
We have now climbed to 32,000ft, at a cruising speed (or possibly because of a headwind) of 796kph – we’ve dropped a few kilometres an hour. Still some turbulence because of the hot, dry conditions over Central Australia. A lot of heat haze at this height so visibility from my window is affected.
Within half an hour, we were flying over Katherine in the Northern Territory. Controlled, burning-off bushfires can be seen in the distance (a common occurrence in the NT at this time of the year – Spring - and done to promote new grassland pastures)
Twin rivers below us. Some agriculture and green crops here and there. Bushfire smoke making it difficult to see much out of the window now. The landform has changed, with eroded sand ridges appearing above the flat countryside. Because we are now getting close to the coast, small rivers are beginning to appear.
We crossed the Australian coastline at 2-30pm, just 4 hours after leaving Sydney and flying just west of Darwin, with the Northern Territory coastline coming into view and a glimpse of golden beaches stretching for miles along the coast. Our flight path will now take us across the Timor and Banda Seas, and across Borneo and Brunei.
This trip has been 3 years in the making and all began with an invite from a friend of many years, turning 60 this year and not wanting a birthday party. Instead, he told us that there was a cruise down the Irrawaddy River in Burma (Myanmar) that he’d always wanted to do so, at dinner that evening, his invitation was offered to those of us in attendance.
Like a lot of these things, invites go out to a number of people but, at the end of
the day (or 3 years) and, for a variety of reasons, numbers dwindle to less than the original invitees. On this trip, there will be 4 of us. Greg, the birthday boy; Jenni, our elder daughter and in-house travel agent; Ted and myself. We have Jen to thank for all of her hard work putting it all together (as always) for what promises to be a great trip.
Ted and I will meet up with Greg and Jen in Bangkok in about 3 weeks’ time. Before that, he and I will spend that time, touring through Thailand and Laos.
Laos and Burma will be new experiences for us as we haven’t been there before and, even though we have been to Thailand several times, we shall be doing a few different things this time and having some different experiences. We tend to like to get a bit off the beaten track when we travel.
By now, the afternoon was getting away as we got closer to our destination – Bangkok. Between Indonesia and Borneo, we spotted numerous tiny atolls and small islands dotted here and there in the middle of nowhere.
Now with only an hour
and a half to go, we had just flown across southern Vietnam and were now over southern Cambodia, having flown just west of both Ho Chi Minh City and Phnom Penh. We were now on our approach to Bangkok.
We had lost a bit of time during our flight and were now running about 25 minutes late due to some headwinds earlier, but had now climbed to 38,000ft and were clipping along at 953kph in an effort to try and pick up some time.
To no avail it seemed, as we landed in Bangkok at our estimated arrival time of 4-45pm local time – 7-45pm Sydney time, as Bangkok is 3 hours behind us. We had left Sydney in 18deg Celsius to arrive to 33deg Celsius in Bangkok.
Welcome to South East Asia .....
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RENanDREW
Ren & Andrew
The start of a new trip is so exciting!
Just before my first ever solo trip in my twenties, I got a winter cough, which led to bronchitis which led to asthma too - but within a few days in sunny Thailand I got better. I'm hoping the same happens and you felt better. Looking forward to following your SE Asian travels :)