Bangkok

After 3 weeks of almost non-stop partying, plus a huge amount of stress, I was really looking forward to getting to Bangkok for a much needed detox and recharge of the batteries. I'd booked two nights in a hotel but didn't have any firm plans beyond that. But it didn't start well. After my brother had kindly dropped us off at Terminal 3 at Heathrow, on my instructions, we quickly discovered that we should have in fact have been at Terminal 4....a bit of a walk and a short train ride later, we're there. All's well and we board the plane, settle back into our seats for take off and Harley promptly throws up. No sick bags to be found anywhere but thanks to Will's big hands, he manages to catch most of it before I find the plastic wrapper from the earphones and he tips it in there. Will then spends most of the rest of the flight in the toilet, not knowing whether to sit on it or put his head down it, getting rid of the prawn salad he had before we left Heathrow. A fairly sleepless flight follows and we start to descend....as Harley decides to throw up again. Same scenario, Will catches most of it in his hands, I scrabble on the floor and find a plastic wrapper from the headphones, he tips it in there.....and then the whole lot tips out onto his lap as he tries to wrap it up. Choice! Then, sudden panic as I fill in the landing cards and it asks for visa numbers. We don't have visas. I'm sure that Trailfinders told me we could get visas at the airport, but I'm also sure they told me Terminal 3, so clearly, my brain cannot be trusted right now. A fretful 10 minutes and we find out we don't need them...phew, looks like our luck is turning. Not for long!! We hop in a taxi to our hotel, fly out over the freeway, arrive to find the place in darkness. "Oh, lovely hotel mum, are we staying here?" ask Ruby as she admires the marble floors and carved wood statues lining the stairs up to the darkened reception area. Hmmm, seems not. Two days ago, there was a major fire here and the hotel is closed for repairs. The agency have emailed me to let me know, but I've not looked at my emails for the last 3 days. Eventually, they found us an alternative hotel, but it's of course 50% more expensive and it reminds me of a Travelodge, with a fantastic view of the multi-storey car park opposite. Absolutely no marble and certainly no carved wood statues! But hey, it's only 300yds away and there's a taxi outside. But, it's rush hour, and that 300yds takes us almost 2 hours!! So the quoted fare of 100baht is now trebled to 300baht. Are you feeling my pain yet? We just want to get the day over so have some dinner and all go to bed.

Next day starts off better, Harley's happy we're in "Toy Land", so we set off for some sightseeing. Taxi to Wat Traimit to see the 3m tall, 5 1/2 ton Golden Buddha, then give the kids the best rides of their lives on a tuk-tuk to Golden Mount, where they admirably climbed all 379 steps up and then back down again, and Wat Saket before being beaten by the heat and taking a boat down the Chao Praya river to Central Pier and then a lovely air-conditioned sky train to Chong Nonsi and a short walk back to the Travelodge (aka Silom Trinity Residence). But hooray, we head to the pool and it's lovely - rooftop, great views. Our luck's turning. Oh dear, did I speak too soon?

We decide to stay an exrta couple of nights so at 9pm I head off to reception only to be told that they are fully booked, and no, I won't be able to look online for something else as the internet is down. But don't worry, the nearest internet is only 400 yds away. I go up to the room and Ruby's throwing up. And up. And up. Going on for half the night. And the next morning. And then I join her. Feeling too ill to leave our beds, Will goes to try out his best bargaining tactics and manages to bag us the suite, at not too much more than we were paying for our current room. Much relieved, we all drag ourselves up 4 floors and flop back into bed, where Ruby and I stay for the rest of the day whilst the boys take to the pool.

Have had enough of the madmess of Bangkok. Too many people, too much traffic and way too much stress (although a distinct lack of alcohol passing my lips, which can only be a good thing, given the last couple of weeks or so!) so plan our escape to Laos. Except that we need a visa. And we plan to stay longer than 2 weeks which is the length of the standard visa. So we must apply for an extended one, which normally takes 4 days. Except we want to leave in 2 days. So that's £35 each please. That sorted, we need a hotel. Spend 3 hours on the internet, trying to find a room but there's nothing, anywhere. Next morning, Will makes a call and manages to secure us a suite in a very retro-style hotel in Vientiane. Let's hope the next journey and indeed the next country are kinder to us than Bangkok has been.