We decided to go to Thailand.
After using any free penny on enlarging the house and getting a bigger car (with a 100% financing) we decided that the most strategic thing to do is go East.
Noa is on a year of Momhood vacation, so February 2016 is a good time for this.
We set a budget (which we exceeded, of course) got tickets with Transero and we are planning what we'll do.
Transero went bankrupt so we had to buy tickets from the Uzbeks.
Every February at work is very quiet with not much work. But not in 2016. I slept 3 hours each night prior our flight in Thu 21th of Jan. And I didn't finish due to an ugly problem at Apple servers, grrr!!!
The flight went OK. We had a leg stop in Tashkent, which was funny. There is s small airport with such a mess that most of the two hours waiting we stood lines. And we didn't even enter the country...
So another night without sleeping, as Naomi slept on me most of the flight. "- What is the problem? we rented a beautiful flat in Bangkok, soon I'll sleep" I cheer myself up.
We got into Suvarnabhumi an hour early, around 4:15 AM.
There was a long line in the immigration booth, but Thais love kids, so they moved us to an empty booth!!! But we are Lowi... so we didn't fill all we had to in the immigration form...
Alright! We are now in Thailand! Let's get some Bahts and the luggage.
We found a food court in floor B of the airport (where all the busses) with real thai prices and taste!! What a happiness.
We stayed at the foodcourt till light started painting the skies.
I had figured out our route to the flat using the new skytrain from Suvarnabhumi directly to BKK center, from there a connection to Ekammai station with other skytrain (MTS) line.
We got to Suvarnabhumi's skytrain station, go tickets (150 bhats for all of us) and the train was waiting there. A smiling thai, who waves the conductor of the train when it's clear to depart, held the train for us. Due to the gesture we jumped in without noticing there was no spot for us to seat or stand with all our luggage. Big mistake, huge...
The train started to fill up till it looked like this
We arrived to Phaia Thai station and walked to Ratchathewi station (short walk), got tickets and took a train till Ekkamai station. Around 10 stops and the train went full and empty during the ride.
We got off at Ekkamai, as the explanation of the place claims 5 mins walk from this station.
We booked a department at Zenith Place on Sukhumvit road (the longest road in thailand, from Bangkok to Cambodia border).
Ekammai station is in the top left and Zenith Place in the bottom right. As Google maps credibility is the same as for an Indian YES response, I assumed that Zenith Place is closer to the station (5 minutes, remember?)
Told my family to start walking.
This is the time to say we were carring:
1 85L backpack
4 smaller packs for daily use (ranging from 25L to 5L).
1 Huge suitcase (with wheels)
1 Big trolley
1 Baby Stroller
1 Baby that refuses to seat ON the stroller (or in it...)
After using any free penny on enlarging the house and getting a bigger car (with a 100% financing) we decided that the most strategic thing to do is go East.
Noa is on a year of Momhood vacation, so February 2016 is a good time for this.
We set a budget (which we exceeded, of course) got tickets with Transero and we are planning what we'll do.
Transero went bankrupt so we had to buy tickets from the Uzbeks.
Every February at work is very quiet with not much work. But not in 2016. I slept 3 hours each night prior our flight in Thu 21th of Jan. And I didn't finish due to an ugly problem at Apple servers, grrr!!!
The flight went OK. We had a leg stop in Tashkent, which was funny. There is s small airport with such a mess that most of the two hours waiting we stood lines. And we didn't even enter the country...
So another night without sleeping, as Naomi slept on me most of the flight. "- What is the problem? we rented a beautiful flat in Bangkok, soon I'll sleep" I cheer myself up.
We got into Suvarnabhumi an hour early, around 4:15 AM.
There was a long line in the immigration booth, but Thais love kids, so they moved us to an empty booth!!! But we are Lowi... so we didn't fill all we had to in the immigration form...
Alright! We are now in Thailand! Let's get some Bahts and the luggage.
We found a food court in floor B of the airport (where all the busses) with real thai prices and taste!! What a happiness.
We stayed at the foodcourt till light started painting the skies.
I had figured out our route to the flat using the new skytrain from Suvarnabhumi directly to BKK center, from there a connection to Ekammai station with other skytrain (MTS) line.
We got to Suvarnabhumi's skytrain station, go tickets (150 bhats for all of us) and the train was waiting there. A smiling thai, who waves the conductor of the train when it's clear to depart, held the train for us. Due to the gesture we jumped in without noticing there was no spot for us to seat or stand with all our luggage. Big mistake, huge...
The train started to fill up till it looked like this
We arrived to Phaia Thai station and walked to Ratchathewi station (short walk), got tickets and took a train till Ekkamai station. Around 10 stops and the train went full and empty during the ride.
We got off at Ekkamai, as the explanation of the place claims 5 mins walk from this station.
We booked a department at Zenith Place on Sukhumvit road (the longest road in thailand, from Bangkok to Cambodia border).
Told my family to start walking.
This is the time to say we were carring:
1 85L backpack
4 smaller packs for daily use (ranging from 25L to 5L).
1 Huge suitcase (with wheels)
1 Big trolley
1 Baby Stroller
1 Baby that refuses to seat ON the stroller (or in it...)
1 Ukulele
1 Melodica
The walk was exactly as appears in the attached map!!!! Terribly hard for kids after 12 hours in airplanes and airports and trains. Around 750m with all the luggage on us.
The communication with our host was terrible.
Nobody was expecting us or knew about our arrival at Zenith Place.
We waited in the parking lot of Zenith Place:
The kids were sleeping in this parking lot while we try to either
- get a sim card (the non english speaking guy wants our passport, so nono)
- get a decent wifi connection (what seven years ago was very common across bkk)
- get a bloody phone to call our narrow minded host and get us out of this lousy parking lot.
The thai guard of the parking lot was nice and smiley. There was a market just over the soi.
I went for a walk with the phone to catch some free WIFI. Found it and reached our host who wrote us back (after two hours) a message in Thai so we can show at Zenith Place, so they let us in.
Went back to Zenith Place (were they even refused us to let us use their wifi, cold blooded bastards these snob thais at the Zenith Place).
When the thai guy at Zenith Place saw the Thai message our host wrote he said "Not Here".
A lady from the market in front of the parking was very helpful as she knew some English and a lot of manners. They brought us a taxi and tried to explain the driver our whereabouts.
This is the time to mention all taxis in BKK run on gas, so there is no room in the trunk for anything...
We jumped on the taxi. The luggage on us. The lady told us Sukhumvit 45 (we were in 72).
The driver took us to 45, I got off. Couldn't find any Zenith Place, so we told the driver to drop us at Ekkamai station (the one we got off the train four hours ago).
There is also a central bus station in Ekkamai, as we understood when we were dropped off the taxi.
Alright, so back to stage 1 after four exhausting wasted hours.
We sat down in the steel made bench of the bus station. Noa stayed with the kids and our luggage and I went to find the same as before. Sim, WIFI, phone. After 45 minutes and frustrated like hell returned with none.
Noa talked to two tourists that spoke good English. They were travelling with a very friendly and super helpful thai lady with a phone.
She talked with our host. Waved a taxi. Agreed the top price he's allowed to charge us and jumped in together with Noa in search of the place. It took them 45 minutes to find it AFTER the explanations of our stupid host.
They came back. THEY FOUND THE BLOODY PLACE!
The lady already left. She was like a fairy that came to save us!
The station guard, the taxi driver and Me took all our luggage and sleepy kids (now on the steel benches) and compressed everybody and everything in the cab. Except of myself.
The station guard waved a motorbike taxi for me. We drove to Zenith Place. There are three Zenith Places along Sukhumvit road!!!!
The flat was Amazing:
(Two bedrooms, kitchen, living room, shower, smart elevator-you need the key to use it, guards in the lobby, swimming pool, washing machine - that takes one hour to finish washing, home stereo, cable TV, nice view of a golf range - a place to hit golf balls into the open space, a gym, etc...)
After six or seven hard hours, we were in our place in Bangkok. Exhausted, drained, too tired to do something)
The place is five minutes walk from Ekkamai station, the question was, in what direction...
