Bangkok, Thailand: Week Ten

11th - 13th July 2011



PANIC STATIONS! I spent the best part of Monday scrubbing our apartment clean, I sorted out things in cupboards that for weeks I have just been ignoring, I mopped the floor – for the second time since arriving (shock horror) and then promptly ran out of steam when it came to tackling the bathroom floor. I managed some yoga pre-housework and then waited for Djalma to bring some food up on the way home from work, we lay on the bed and did not much else for the rest of the afternoon. “Not much else” included several episodes of Jonathan Creek and Djalma playing solitaire on the computer.

Tuesday. Big day. Parents in law arrive. We both got up just after 5.30am to go to the airport but Djalma had an epiphany on the loo before we left and thought I should stay behind in case they left the airport before he got there. Not needing much encouragement I went promptly back to bed and dreamed about their imminent arrival. Meeting them at the Airport Sky Link I took them back to our apartment successfully avoiding any nasty accidents with the mental early morning Bangkok traffic. Getting them up to the 7th floor along with all their baggage was... a challenge.
In our room with the air-conditioning on Berna began the BIG unpack. Wow. It was like Christmas, or a full delivery for a thriving sweet shop. Among the most exciting gifts were new flip-flops and wine. Djalma was ecstatic with his new socks, I kid you not. After checking into their room around midday we headed out for lunch, beef noodle soup, and to take a little stroll around the park. We didn't get very far before weariness overcame us all and then it was back to our respective rooms for them to have a snooze and me to watch numerous episodes of SATC season 2.

From Bangkok, Thailand: Week Ten

We took them to the noodle-man for dinner (where we usually get hot basil chicken rice from) and then went back up to their room for a little catch-up. I was falling asleep about as much as Ned who was snoring on the bed within a matter of minutes but after a little Guaraná I managed to hold out until 10ish when we went back to our own apartment for bed.

The following day, after a late start we packed up and headed out to Kanchanaburi, famous because the Death Railway passed through the town and over the River Kwai. After a good three hours in a comfortable mini-bus driven like the clappers by a man who had clearly paid instead of studying for his driving license, we arrived in the beautiful town by the river, our first excursion outside of Bangkok.