From Cologne to Chiang Rai via Istanbul and Bangkok
It would have been a very smooth travel-day with nothing much to report if not..... My friend Wolfgang offered to take me to the airport at 8 am on Sunday morning which is even more heroic if you take into consideration he had to work the night before. I was obviously very keen to release him back to bed immediately after he had dropped me at the terminal. I myself then slowly proceeded to the Turkish Airlines counter to pay the 90 € for the bike transport. Nobody there when I arrived so I decided to draft a few messages to friends. I was convinced I had put the phone in my fleece jacket but it wasn´t there. No problems! Probably in the backpack..... Not there. Now there was a problem. Big time! It´s not so much about the hardware but anything that comes with a modern mobile nowadays: it´s the communication center with all addresses and numbers saved; it´s my banking tool with all security features like iTANs, security apps etc etc. Gone? Nightmare!
Did I leave it at home? Did I loose it somewhere on the way or in the car itself? I didn´t have Wolfgang´s number in my head so I had to find a phone box in the airport which is not that easy nowadays. When I found one: no coins! I was starting to panic as there were only two hours left until departure. In the end I used one of my credit cards (can´t wait to see the bill!) to ring my mother to contact my brother to contact Wolfgang. Then the long, uncertain wait began as I myself could obviously not be contacted anymore. I had given up to believe I would get it back and was on my way to the departure gate when Wolfgang all the sudden stood next to me waving with the phone! It had slipped out of my jacket under the seat. Is there anything like a positive heartattack? Thank you very much Mum, Ralf and Wolfgang. This would have been an extremely bad start to my long awaited journey.
Now the whole rest of the journey was extremely smooth: Nice company from lovely Iranian Reza between Cologne and Istanbul; great service and a really good sleep all the way to Bangkok; plenty of time at Suvarnabhumi Airport to check in with Bangkok Airways, eat a first soup; buy a phone card and then finally touch down in Chiang Rai. My pre-organized pickup-van took me to the Chat Guesthouse, which is just perfect for me as cyclist. I have stayed there twice before and the new young landlords (Jenny and Tum) are as helpful as you can imagine. May the show begin!
Nov 30, 2017, 16.12 hrs. My very last minute in the workforce. As my personnel office decided a Letter of Appreciation sent by mail after more than 37 years of service was sufficient I decided to get my own "Danke!" photo in the foyer of the Cologne Police Department
"Upside down you`re turning me..." I had to, otherwise I could not have gone the two floors up to Suvarnabhumi´s departure hall, where I had to re-check in with Bangkok Airways. Allow a minimum of 3 hours between arrival and scheduled departure
I have had full rabies immunization for many years now but refreshing boosters (lasting 6 months) are recommended. Do it in Thailand! There is a hospital right opposite the Chat Guesthouse and the walk-in vaccination cost me 580 Baht (15 €). In Germany the French Sanofi vaccine itself would have been 54€
