Sunday, March 1 – Tuesday, March 3, 2020
Sunday has been quite stressful, but, even I left Germany more than 20 years ago, that’s because at the end I’m still German. And a German has to have a ‘plan’ !
So the alarm rang me out of bed 0815, at 0900 I’ve been down for breakfast and by 09:30 already at the pool, roasting like a chicken on the roast spit, not forgetting to turn every 30 minutes.
After 2 ½ hours of tanning I went to the gym for an hour. Normally Sunday is ‘gym-free’, but I’ve had to burn some calories due to too much greasy and sugary Thai food.
I crossed Thong Lo,
took the BTS to Phrom Phong where the very nice shopping mall ‘EmQuartier’ is located.
I needed so T-Shirts and I wanted to check out prices, since Thailand has very high import duties. I’ve been quite surprised that prices were only 15 – 20% higher than in Europe, of which you’ll get back 7% at the airport. So, even the high import duties, branded clothes are only slightly more expensive than i.e. in Italy, but cheaper than in Ukraine.
Back to Thong Lo station where I went for a small lunch – what a mistake. But more to come later.
After another 1 ½ hours of roasting I brought some clothes up to the laundry at the very end of Soi 57, passing all the construction sites. They’re building some impressive residential houses, prices starting at around US$ 6’000 per square meter, a 2 bedroom apartment from US$ 825’000 – I guess that’s on basement.
I’ve to say I like these masks… you don’t have to be worried that for privacy reasons a person could be identified.
Now it was time to get pimped, manicure & pedicure, a procedure which takes place every 14 days. The hotel recommended a very nice salon just across the street,
where 2 girls were working on me parallelly to get thinks (nails !!!) faster done.
Unfortunately after I’ve been complete I started to feel pretty bad, rushed back to the hotel, but still buying mango with sticky rice on the way.
Montezumas revanche got me – the first time since years when in Thailand.
I skipped dinner and just went to bed, deep under the blanket not to feel cold. I can’t say I had a wonderful night’s sleep…
When I woke up Monday morning I felt like I didn’t sleep at all – but got a refreshing shower, brought some more clothes to the laundry. When you walk Soi 57 it’s interesting to see the contrast of glass skyscrapers and the traditional open air market just between them.
Even feeling not too well, I had to eat something. I went for breakfast to eat something very, very light – and went straight back to bed again.
At around 12 I forced myself to get out of bed and, of course, to the gym. But I felt quite weak and therefore I just did an hour of weights.
At 1500 I was at the pool, yes, tanning.
Shortly before 1800 I picked up my laundry and went to the Club Lounge where I decided to have dinner:
I can’t say I enjoyed it – but I had no desire for something different.
Back to the room I started to arrange my luggage – and closed Monday.
On Tuesday I started with my regular routine, but instead of egg white omelette I opted for Thai omelette. In combination with the sweet chili sauce a very nice start.
After tanning and gym I went back to my room, arranged my luggage – and still had some time before check out at 16:00.
So I thought of the 3 Bonvoy hotels in Bangkok I stayed within the last 3 months, which one to prefer. And the conclusion was: it very much depends on your Bonvoy status.
In case you do not have any status (or just Gold), I would go with the cheapest, the ALOFT or, in case I want more space, the slightly more expensive (about US$ 10/day) Executive Apartments at Marriott Sukhumvit Thong Lor.
Breakfast you would get around the corner at US$ 5, so no need to spend US$ 25 inside the hotel (at the ALOFT the breakfast is cheaper, but really crappy !)
In case of having a status (above Gold) I would either stay at the Executive Apartments at Marriott where, even it’s ‘Apartments’ you’re getting all benefits like breakfast, Club-Lounge access, free laundry etc., or the Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit, which in comparison is a real luxury hotel and, even already 24 years in operation, in very good condition. Why no ALOFT with status ? Because you’re getting nothing except a crappy breakfast and a late-check-out. Maybe you’ll get a room at a higher floor – but they’re all the same, except you’ll have to wait longer for the elevator.
At the SGS, in case you do have a status higher than gold, you’re getting a lot: mostly a Luxury Suite upgrade, 4 items of laundry per day, butler service which includes all-day coffee, tea, milk (important for my protein powder), juice and cookies, breakfast at the high-end Rossini restaurant (or any other outlet, even outdoors by the pool) as well as evening drinks and snacks at the pool or the bars. Without status I wouldn’t pay the price tag for the SGS, because you’ll get nothing than a small room, but an excellent pool, gym and Concierge service.
At 1600 I checked out of my room, went to a hair stylist at the end of Soi 57, just next to the laundry.
I have had bad experiences in Thailand with hair stylists – so I didn’t expect much. But I’ve been positively surprised when I entered the salon and the lady, before washing, asked me how I would like my hair to be cut.
The Thai ‘washing stations’ I really don’t like. You need to lay down instead of sitting in a chair. Just not my thing.
But after cutting I’ve been positively surprised – because the result, especially for Thailand, was really good.
Back to the Marriott and up to the lounge where I was allowed to spend my time until departure.
At 1800 they packed my luggage into the trunk of the taxi
– no change at rush hour to convince the fairly good English-speaking driver to use the meter. Anyway, he asked for 500 Baht incl. toll, about US$ 3 above the regular fare.
Traffic was horrible for the first kilometres,
but when we reached the toll way it got far better and so we reached the airport after 45 minutes.
Readers of my previous TRs already can imagine to where I was flying… yes, of course, it’s India. Same procedure as every year as for me a year without traveling to India can’t be called a year.
I remember when years ago I had to show up at the Indian embassy in Kiev, to require a Visa. It was just horrible since they couldn’t do it for German citizens, even I had the Ukrainian permanent residence permit with me. The passport had been sent to Germany, then – with the Visa – back to Ukraine.
Some years ago it became easier due to eVisa, this year even the Visa fee dropped. I don’t remember exactly how much I paid for my own Visa, but I remember for Ukrainian citizens it was US$ 60 – this year only 25, same as mine.
I knew that Check-In of Air India is at the very end of the BKK terminal, so I left the taxi there, smoked a last cigarette (no smoking rooms inside the complete airport building) and went inside, directly to where the AI Check-In has been located for over a decade. And, surprise, it wasn’t there anymore. I checked the board and found out that it was now located at isle K, in the middle of the terminal.
Arrived there I found the counters empty, no passengers at all.
The lady at the Business Class counter checked me in, wanted to see my eVisa and the CC I paid the ticket with. What would happen if I would not have this CC anymore ?
I was presented my boarding pass to Delhi
as well as the lounge invitation – I hate the Miracle Lounge near gate G2.
On to Fast Track Immigration where – again surprise – there was no queue at all. I love traveling in times of Corona !
Security- and Passport control (where also body temperature was measured) took 2 minutes – and I arrived airside, walked the shops, bought cigarettes and went downstairs where the lounges are located.
Instead of the Miracle Lounge I chose Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge,
nicely made, very quite and with a good selection of food.
I just took a Coke Zero & Laksa,
relaxed, talked to my girlfriend who was on the way to KBP airport for her flight to WAW and further DEL, waited until it was time to leave for Gate G1 where boarding was announced for 2045.
When I arrived at the gate the usual manual security check for lighters took place, fortunately the didn’t find mine deep inside my backpack.
After 5 minutes of waiting I was allowed to enter the Airbus A320neo first. The cabin pretty much looked the same as with the older types, but at least in good condition – no IFE though.
I seated at 2A,
Business Class was just booked 3/12, so at least I had the isle for myself. Last year, on the day flight, there was still a Boeing 787 with lie-flat-seats. But presently I prefer less comfort over any newer Boeing type.
Still on ground we received a glass of fresh juice, in my case watermelon, and the menu.
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We took off in time, but the captain announced a longer flight time due to heavy headwinds.
The crew wasn’t understandable at all, speaking Indian English plus wearing masks, in addition they were very slow, just serving 3 passengers.
I ordered one of the two vegetarian options, Paneer, which came with rice, Indian bread, salad, a sweet yoghurt and dessert from condensed milk and dried fruits – the Dal she forgot to serve.
The food was quite eatable, nothing to complain about. In general I like AI-food, have always preferred it over Jet Airways. But I’ll never forget Kingfisher Airlines, which was just over the top.
Even the aircraft was only equipped with recliners I had a quite good sleep for almost 3 hours before they handed out the immigration- and Corona form
and we descended towards DEL airport.
Arrival was 50 minutes late, so 0040 on March 4th instead of 2350 the previous day.