Made it to HKG fine
I'm happy to say that I'm currently ensconsed in the Pier. So I'll pick up where I left off...
After ending the original post, I heard one more single gun shot; again it was from a distance. I made my way downstairs where there were quite a few people that just woke up and were trying to check out. Apparently, there was a little wait for taxis. I did purchase my airport departure tax ticket at the hotel figuring that it would save time.
Since I reserved the limo a couple of hours before, it was waiting for me when I checked out. It was just becoming light as we left the hotel. The streets were empty. I've gone to the airport at that time of morning, and we have always had a little bit of traffic, but the cars were few and far between this morning. We made it to the airport in under 20 minutes which is definitely a record for me in BKK. I did not see any military vehicles at all during the ride, and didn't see any from the hotel either.
I finally saw traffic when we got off the expressway at Don Muang airport. There were a lot of taxis/limos at the departure level; security at the airport though seemed lighter than normal. I was at the CX counter by 6:25 for my 9:50 AM flight and check in was already open. There was no one in the F line, and I got my boarding passes very quickly; the agent confirmed that many people had shown up trying (successfuly) to change flights to leave ASAP. I went through immigration breathing a sigh of relief.
I saw on the departure board a few flights canceled, but for the most part flights were leaving on time. I noticed that the CX flight at 8:20 to HKG was showing on-time, so when I went to the CX F lounge, I asked if I could switch to the earlier flight (just to get out of Dodge). The agent said the flight was full, but I could check back 40 minutes before departure. Figuring if lucky I would have a middle seat, I said that I'll just hang out and keep my window seat on the 9:50 departure. Ten minutes later the agent told me a window in J was available on the earlier flight, and a new boarding pass was handed to me.
The flight turned out to have 10 open seats in J, I did not check Y. Luckily, this will just turn into a story to tell in the future while I show my copy of the Bangkok Post around with the large black headline "Coup D'Etat."
And for those interested, the entree choices on CX 700 this morning was a choice of an Asparagus Omelette with veal sausage, rissole potatos and roast tomato, OR a stir fried turnip cake with shrimp and chili paste.
On to SFO and PDX in a few hours.