Night on the bus then submit visa

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Geo: 14.9335, 102.083

Wake up at 06:30 after a chilly night. It was lucky that we had asked reception for a couple of extra blankets when we got back last night. This must be the first time in more than 10 years that I have slept a night in Bangkok without having to use the aircon or at least the fan in our room.
Eat breakfast at the hotel then take a taxi into the centre of town. The VFS offices where we have to submit Jai's visa application have moved since we were last here and can now be found on the 28th floor of the 'Trendy Building' – yes, that is really its name ! Traffic is really light this morning for some reason and we are there a lot quicker than I expected and as a consequence far too early for her appointment. It turns out that ‘Trendy' is next door to the Miami Hotel where I stayed for a couple of nights the first time I came to Bangkok way back in 1987. After making sure we were in the right place we go for a bit of a walkabout to pass the time ending up in a small park; the Chuvit Garden. This is a piece of land right on Sukhumvit Road that must be worth millions – GBP not Thai Baht ! – and has been given to the city to be used as a place of relaxation. It was certainly a more pleasant spot to pass our time than wandering up and down the traffic fumes of the main road. A Scottish chap actually came into the park on his morning routine of walking his parrot, I kid you not. The bird was on a long line and flew up into the trees and back to his arm for his morning exercise. Created quite an interest amongst passers by.
Return to 'Trendy' at 10:00 and as I am not allowed past the ground floor reception Jai heads up in the lift alone to do the business. I go and sit on a wall outside and wait ... and wait. Jai reappears just over an hour later saying the office was very busy. We now have to wait anywhere between 1 and 3 weeks to disover what the British Embassy will decide this year.
The taxis here dont want to take us back to Banglamphu using their meteres but want to charge an exorbitant fixed price. After asking 5 different drivers we give up and decide to make our own way back. Take the BTS Skytrain from nearby Nana station and ride along to the river at Saphan Taksin where we transfer to a river express boat for the ride along the Chao Phraya back to Pha Arthit near our hotel.
It is just after midday by now so we stop at our noodle shop for lunch on the way back to hotel.
Jai had wanted to visit a museum that we had been to before but has now changed her mind and it looks as though another lazy afternoon has won out.
I go out and change some GBP to Thai Baht at the disappointing rate of 50.48 - 1GBP. Walking down a side street I spot a car that at first glance looks like an immaculate early Jaguar but something doesnt look quite right with it. Closer inspection shows that it is actually a bit smaller and acording to the bonnet badge is a Mitsuoka. I'd never heard of them. Have just (3 Feb) looked them up on the internet and they are a Japanese company that build autos that look like classic British 1050/60 motors. Website; http://www.topspeed.com/cars/mitsuoka/index69.html Turns out that the Jaguar in question is almost entirely a NIssan MIcra with a different body !!
I walk past the Viengtai Hotel where I also stayed a few times in my early visits here before I knew better and find that it is closed for a makor refurbishment. I cut through a side alley into Khao San Road which is really busythen take a short cut through Wat Chana Songkhran which is looking resplendent in the afternoon sun after also having a major overhaul recently.
Take a couple of coffees back to the room. It has warmed up considerably after this mornings fresh start and I actually have a bit if a sweat on and in eed of the aircon for a while.
Playing it safe on the food front this evening we eat a tuna baguette at the hotel and check out at 17:30. First taxi I stop is happy to take us to Mo Chit bus station using his meter which is most unusual. The traffic is actually the worst we have ever seen it and for a while I began to wonder if we would make it to the station in time for our bus even though we had left a couple of hours before it was due. It takes 1 hour to complete the first 3 1/2 km according to the taxi meter !! The traffic finally lets up a little and we reach the station with still the best part of an hour to wait.
We sit in the aircon lounge upstairs to wait, as much to be away from the bus fumes as to be out of the heat, then make our way down to Bay 47 and board the bus. The bus companies ust be feeling the pinch from the airlines offering more frequent and cheaper flights as the price when I bought tonights tickets seemed to be less than the last time we came. We have large comfortable seats in the small downstairs compartment on the bus and since we last travelled they have now added individual TV screens to each seat as well. Unfortunately we dont have any headphones so the TVs will remain silent, erhaps another good thing !!
We leave about 10mins late and before I know it I have dropped off. I wake up as we approach Khorat where we usually stop for a 20mins toilet break but tonight I see the station pass by. We eventually pull in for petrol just north of town and are soon off again.

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