Month: November 2023

Well we said goodbye to our nice hotel in Pattaya today and moved on to Bangkok which I was really looking forward to! Before we left though there was one last breakfast to have and some pictures to take of the breakfast buffet! It is quite a beautiful setup actually and quite diverse in its offerings!

Next we had a pick up scheduled for 2pm for a SUV transfer to Bangkok. Now the last transfer that I booked was really good – the lady who picked us up at Bangkok and drove us to Rayong had a really nice comfortable car and we (particularly me) did not arrive in pain. Same with our transfer from Rayong to Pattaya. Not so for this trip! I believe the difference was that there is only one highway between Bangkok Airport and Rayong and Rayong to Pattaya however once you get closer to Bangkok (lets say about an hour away) one can choose between the highway and the “lower” road which also is considerably more BUMPY. The van we were in did not have much in the shock department so it was a very uncomfortable ride. On top of that, the service that I used to hire the driver said he spoke English and not a word of English did he speak so we could not get him to get back on the highway. I would have been happy to pay the highway tolls (although they should have been included) however that was pretty hard to communicate. I was SO GLAD when we got to the Royal Orchid Sheraton Hotel!

One thing that really has helped during our travels and when I get into situations with anxiety or pain like this is that I have a newer cell phone and it has an eSIM slot which has allowed me to turn off my Telus SIM and switch to a world wide data provided which has been awesome. I am able to follow Google Maps to see where we are going (and if we are going the right way) and that has helped a lot! Technology sure has changed in the last year since we traveled to Italy/Spain!

The Royal Orchid Sheraton looks to be a beautiful hotel! It sure has lots of orchids in its lobby! We checked in and got to our room, which I had upgraded to a suite using my Suite Nights which is a benefit of the Bonvoy (Marriott) program. As our suite was not ready when we checked in at 4pm, we spent the late afternoon/early evening in the lounge having both refreshments and some light appetizers. As the light appetizers consisted of some pretty wheat based things, they brought me some pasta with tomato sauce and bread which was awesome!

WOW. Simply WOW. We have been upgraded to suites before but this one took the CAKE! This is a 28 floor hotel and I am not sure how many floors have suites – we were on the 20th floor and there were 2 on our floor. The hotel is like a Y with the bottom of the Y being at the river and the 2 suites sharing half of each side of the Y. I think we had the better view than the other suite as we had a 180 degree view of the river as it turned in front of our suite and meandered along. See the pictures below. It was wonderful to watch early in the morning, during the day and later at night.

And now we have arrived in Bangkok – river life!

Well, today is a deep but dry day from a subject perspective. We had breakfast. We went to the pool and hung out. I took pictures of flowers. At Happy Hour, I got 2 Pina Colada Mocktails for the price of 1 where alcohol was NOT 2 for 1 so Andrew made due with one beer – although it was a Singha – when in Thailand, drink as the Thai’s drink is his motto!

Went for a light dinner as I had been eyeing for a couple of days the Panna Cotta with Mango for dessert that was marked gluten free. So I did it – I ate a healthy but a small dinner so I could have the Panna Cotta! Oh my, when it arrived it was HUGE! It is a good thing there were two spoons as I could not finish it myself! A ton of Mango along with Panna Cotta layered with Mango Juice jelly in a Mason jar. How beautiful! Almost sad to eat this gorgeous presentation!

We then went for a walk at night to take some night pictures of the hotel pool and various ramps and ran into a gecko on the way back to the room – very cool! Tomorrow we are changing to Bangkok!

Today we got up EARLY as we had booked a “Pattaya Landmark” Tour and they were picking us up at 8am. Once we got up and got going the time changed to 8:30am so that gave us some more time to eat breakfast and have a more relaxed meal. Soon it was time to go meet our tour so we went and waited in the lobby. This was to be a small tour group which is what I like as I find with my walker I am often behind people and cannot hear what is being said. The driver and tour guide arrived, and there was only one other person on the tour! One reason I had selected this tour was it said that it was customizable. I had tried writing the tour company that we wanted to customize our tour and not go to the Floating Market as we had been there the previous day – but no one got back to me. So I expressed our wish to the tour guide and she said she would see what we could do.

We started off by going to visit the Buddha Mountain which really is an outline of the Buddha on the face of a low mountain/hill. It has a beautiful garden in front of it and there were some monks in orange visiting that day. There also was a memorial stone dedicated to the area. After that visit we got back into the van and drove past Jomtien Beach which is the area of Pattaya we were staying in, and then onto the Big Buddha Temple. At this point, I let Andrew visit the Big Buddha Temple as there were a lot of stairs to get up to it and this was the start of the day and I was really interested in a future stop and having energy (and possible climbing) power for it. Andrew, with the gentleman from India and the tour guide went up and experienced a lot of things besides this huge sitting Buddha on the top of the monument area. I actually did not realize how big the area was and how much was up there – from my vantage point near the parking lot it looked just like a golden Buddha sitting down. When they arrived back (and one Coke Zero later) down from the open-air Temple, we were off to view Pattaya from a view point. What a beautiful view it was! The ocean so teal and the actual downtown a crescent moon shaped beach away. We looked down on the Bali Hai Pier which is also called Pattaya Pier and Walking Street (basically the Robson Street of Pattaya) which are both in South Pattaya. The Pier is a hub of activities with boats taking people to the local islands mainly. Then we proceeded to the Sanctuary of Truth, which is what I was really looking forward to seeing!

The Sanctuary of Truth is a museum/castle like structure in Pattaya that is the most popular place to visit when there. In 1980, it was commissioned by a local business man (not even rich) to appreciate philosophy, art, culture and faith – without it representing a single religion. Inspired by the temples in Ayutthaya (we are going here Dec 3rd from Bangkok), the carvings show respect to father, mother, teacher, the king, and the elephant-headed god. The northern hall features wisdom of emancipation. The southern hall features astronomical themes, namely the sun, moon, and other planets impacting people’s well-being. The western hall features representations of the classical elements (earth, water, wind, and fire) and the gods who conquer the four elements. The eastern hall features familial representations. The main focus of the Sanctuary of Truth is to visually portray important eastern religious concepts and the cycle of life. The sanctuary is made of several different types of wood, giving different parts of the sanctuary different textures. The oldest wood that has been used is takien wood, used to build the main post at about 105 metres tall, is expected to last for 600 years. The detail in the carvings is absolutely memorizing. Best of all, it is also wheelchair accessible!

The construction has not been completed (estimated to finish in 2025), so all visitors have to wear hard hats! Mind kept trying to fall off – hard to take pictures and look up at all the carvings and balance a hard hat. We were provided with a van to take us down to the structure, however first we had to stop at the view point to take pictures and if you wanted, you could go to the simple restaurant or buy souvenirs. The souvenir shop was not accessible so I did not go into it. Also at this viewpoint anyone not wearing proper “respectable” clothing had to “borrow with a fee” a top with sleeves or pants to wear. As you lined up to go down the very long flights of stairs to the Sanctuary of Truth, the clothing police (just lay people but I like the term!) watched people in the line. For all temple like places in Thailand people must have their shoulders and knees covered. It was funny though, while we were waiting for the transport down to the actual structure, we watched a man, who looked like he did not want to wear the elephant print pants (which is the print on the fabric of the pants at all of these places), lower his Bermuda type shorts pretty low on his hips, and cover that up with his shirt (which had sleeves – so okay there) – so the pants would covered his knees. It seems that somewhere between being “approved” to descend the stairs and getting into the structure, that his pants made it back onto his hips! I generally wear clothes that cover my knees so that is not an issue and I have a light scarf that I use to cover my shoulders. Andrew’s regular shorts are not long enough so he generally wears his long linen pants when we might be running into an occasion where we will be visiting a place where modesty is needed.

The person drove us in the van down the hill, picked up our hard hats and then drove us around the the back of the building which is where we were going to join our tour which was coming down the stairs from the viewpoint at that time. Imagine my surprise to see an elevator, disguised with ornate carvings on it to lift me into the building! I know it is said that the place is wheelchair accessible and I was wondering however this was going to be done without messing up the beauty! Up the elevator Andrew and I were escorted and into the Sanctuary of Truth. We walked around for a little bit before the tour joined us. Even in the building, it had ramps for me to take instead of the few stairs! I think, other than taking pictures, I spent the whole time just amazed at the handiwork of the builders of this ornate building. I have made notes on my pictures as to the various things we learned as we were guided around the structure – it totally was awe inspiring that people had CARVED the whole structure and that no nails or other things were or are used today as work continues.

At the end, we went back up the hill on the bus and found our driver sleeping in the shade in the van (drivers deserve a break!) and we were then off to what I thought was Walking Street – that is what was advertised in the tour as the next stop. However the tour guide (which I could remember her name) asked me if we could skip it as we spent more time at the Sanctuary of Truth and we must remain on schedule. Now I had a plan for the Walking Street – to get money exchanged! We were going through a lot more cash than expected and hotels in Thailand need a special permit to change money. The Renaissance did not have one and cannot change US$ to Thai Bhat. So when we were waiting to be picked up, the concierge suggested to go to one of the exchanges on Walking Street – sounded like a plan to me! However now she does not want to stop – so I said it was fine with us as long as we were taken to a Foreign Exchange along the way. So that is what happened – Andrew and the tour guide went and had some US$ exchanged (I only travel with US$ not Canadian as they get the best rate) so that we could continue to pay for things! While I knew coming to Thailand that credit cards outside of the hotels were not used as much – they are just not used at all in some situations like taking taxi’s and some shops.

Then, as I had mentioned that we had been to the Floating Market to our tour guide at the beginning, she offered to take us back to our hotel and then take the man from India to the Floating Market – so that is what we did. As we were hungry and the sun was starting to set, we decided to walk to the restaurant at the front of the hotel for dinner – it has been busy with private parties for the last 2 days based on the note left in the room so tonight it should be open for business – but it was not! It was now closed until December 7th – after we leave! So we watched the sunset from the patio and I saw all the stairs down to the beach and then we returned to the 609 restaurant, who were pretty used to us by now, and had a great “sharing plate” dinner!

Tomorrow is a relaxation day for us – nothing planned right now – lets see what trouble we can get into!

Today at breakfast I decided to branch out and approach the “Asian” section where it looked like they were preparing soups for people. I had seen one gentleman walk by with a stir fry and I thought there was hope for me! So off I went and with not much tribulation convinced the couple that were operating the Asian buffet to cook me a simple stir fry with shrimp, squid, rice vermicelli, an egg and bean sprouts. Let’s call this Lynda’s customized fried rice but the rice was not fried in this case. The lady looked at me pretty weird when she gave the man soya sauce to put on the stir fry and I said – no – just water please as polite as I could muster, to impress upon them how urgent it is to follow my instructions. I watched the whole time and the male cook got it and I said gluten free and he nodded (which really in Asia does not mean much).

They both were so proud when I was extremely excited with the dish they produced for me! I was so happy that I wrote a note on my phone in That so the lady who was bussing tables could tell them how much this plate of food meant to me and how happy I was. At the same time a HUGE plate of bread arrived at our table – no idea why the bread keeps on multiplying each morning! I actually put brie cheese in between the bread slices and wrap them in my paper napkin (I have to be very careful that Andrew does not steal and shred it – it must be a guy thing as my Dad does the same thing) and have them for a snack later

Now, one of the reasons I picked this hotel in Pattaya was it had a beach and nice pictures of lounge chairs on the beach plus a hammock – which I love to lie in! Imagine my surprise at a hotel that said that “all traveled paths are wheelchair accessible” that there are 54 steps to go down to the beach. Not impressed! So the hotel offered to drive us down the road to the beach access so we could walk on the boardwalk back to in front of the hotel and use the lounge chairs and hammock. It was very nice of them! The man also met us a couple of hours later to bring us back, with as little sand as possible on our bodies! Andrew went for a swim in the ocean while I played in the water, picked up shells and hung out in the hammock and the beach chairs. Unfortunately, despite having 40 and 60 SPF lotion on AND a sun shade above me AND my hat on, there are some areas that got a bit pink such as my feet, knees and chest! Oh well, I was prepared and had bought Aloe lotion to apply if this happened and it came into good use! We had fun at the beach that day and there was still more fun to come!

When we were being driven to the beach I noticed some signs, despite being in Thai, that seemed to announce a party. I knew that either the 27th or 28th was Loy Krathong in Thailand – which is a big festival that happens in evening of the full moon of the 12th month in the traditional Thai lunar calendar. As today was the 27th I asked the concierge if today was the night for the festival and was it going to be at where the hotel driver dropped us of? He said yes, but the driver was not available as he was driving people into Pattaya for the bigger party. I told him that I did not want the driver, we would walk now that we know how to get there. He was a bit horrified to hear me say that however what was he to do? Say no? The reason why is there are no sidewalks along the collector road that runs in front of the hotel – so I have to walk on the road with cars and more likely motorbikes whizzing past me. Well, that was okay during the early evening when we walked there but coming home was a total different story! At least we were walking against the traffic and for the 1st time on both of my vacations I actually missed my basket for my walker. It is where I stand my cell phone in flashlight mode at the front of the basket to act as a single headlight. So instead, we used Andrew’s cell phone and I held it in my hand as I pushed my walker along the side of the road. We walked the 8 blocks or so with no issues however the guard at the entrance of the property was sure surprised when we showed up in the dark! However I get ahead of myself – lets talk about the festival!

The Loy Krathong festival pays respects to the water spirits. The word ‘krathong’ refers to a small vessel or basket and ‘loy’ means to float. A krathong is traditionally a small floating container made from a slice of a banana tree trunk, and decorated with elaborately-folded banana leaves, flowers or food and three incense sticks, and a candle. A small coin is sometimes included as an offering to the river spirits. There were some very beautiful and many different types being sold! On the night of the full moon, Thais launch their krathong on a river, canal, or the ocean, making a wish as they do so.  There also was a competition for the best display of some large krathongs.

Along with selling the krathongs, there were TONS of people selling food too – mainly quick cook type things that people could eat at the beach or on the chairs provided. There were 2 stages of music going on and a bouncy thing for kids to play in. It was quite colourful, noisy and busy and it looked like the whole community came out to participate. There even were servers there from the Renaissance Hotel service alcoholic drinks (for sale).

Andrew and I went out onto the the temporary dock that he been installed at the beach to see how these krathongs are launched and to take pictures. We found though it was a pretty personal thing that happened so we really tried to not be intrusive. The “dock” was a jigsaw of floating containers, two containers high. We first noticed that there were life jackets hung on poles every 50 feet or so. Then we figured out why – the families go out onto the temporary dock and pray or whatever they want to do with the krathong, and then to get it into the water, a young boy slips into the pitch black water, and places the krathong in the water and then using a lighter, lights the thing and sends it on its way. There is just one problem – sometimes they are hard to light as the candle gets wet! So we watched these young boys struggle with the lighting and then eventually get tired and the life jacket is used to pull them in to the dock. I took some pictures for some families and a police officer, so they all could be in the picture with their krathongs which was really cool!

Then Andrew and I went back to the hotel as we were getting tired and hungry and decided it was time to relax. We had some snack items in the hotel room that we were going to have for dinner. We had only been in the hotel room about 5 minutes when AGAIN, a fireworks show started up! So now, two shows in 3 nights – this has been quite the experience!

We woke up early today and thought – what should we do? Well, eat breakfast was first on the list however next we went exploring at our hotel and checked out what was going on. There was to be another party at the front of the hotel tonight, so the restaurant area was off limits however the adult pool which is in front of the long pool and kids pool was not! So we decided to give hanging out a try. Andrew also went for a swim where I again, just played up to my knees in the water. The GOOD thing is that I did not slip getting out this time which was awesome! After a while though we found the sun just a bit too hot so we decided to move on and go to a market that I had read about – the Floating Market as it was the weekend and some markets are best to be visited on weekends for full shopping opportunities!

We took a taxi to the Floating Market and paid the admission fee and walked around. I did a bit of shopping as normal however it was not that busy, as it was later in the afternoon and most of the “traffic” aka tourists on busses had left. It was not what I had envisioned at all – I thought the whole market people would be on boats and we would have to take a boat to buy from them but it was not so – the majority of the market was accessible (except for the bridges with slats going across them which meant going up and over was hard) and i soon found a way around that was bridge free. If you did not want to eat, you did not have to go over a bridge! As it was still quite hot out, we decided that we had enough of the markets and people wanting you to visit their stalls so we decided to go back to the hotel. So we exited where we entered and low and behold, the taxi driver was still there sleeping in his car! That was strange – I thought the hotel said there are lots of taxis and we would not have a problem getting a new one to go to the next market! They must have arranged this? Never will know! So I said hi to the taxi driver and he took us back to the hotel – a little confused why we were not going to the next market but happy I think he did not have to follow us around.

I was up very early this morning and while working on this blog, caught the sunrise! A few hours later, Andrew and I went down for breakfast. We are being picked up by our friendly driver at 1pm to take us to Pattaya. So that means we need to pack! I am enjoying this vacation a bit more than the one in Italy where each morning I had to pack and put my luggage out the door by 7am!

The chef came out at breakfast and said that he had a surprise for me and please wait. So I helped myself to a small helping of breakfast and was patient and waited for what he had in store for me! After about 30 minutes and getting concerned that I was getting pretty hungry and my blood sugar alarm was going off the chef suddenly appeared and had cooked me “breakfast” Pad Thai! What a treat! It was yummy just like the 1st night when I had the same meal – Pad Thai and this one also had broccoli and cauliflower in it too which made it more nutritious! Nothing like getting your veggies when traveling right Liz???

Then the chef came and checked on me and I thanked him again and he asked if I wanted any of the GF bread. I really did not need it so I said not this time – it was very good but we are traveling today and do not want to feel too full. He then asked me when were were leaving and told me he would leave a surprise for me at the Front Desk! Okay, the suspense continues!

Now we are packed and in the lobby. The Thai people are SO helpful and want to take all your luggage for you! When we travel Andrew deals with the suitcases and I deal with the backpacks. I have a perfect way of balancing them on my walker and it works out very well. I do have to watch my walker I found out though as if I am not watching and they see luggage (which for them is a backpack) my walker will disappear! It has happened to me twice now – so I almost have to tether it to me when checking in or our so that the bellman does not take it by mistake!

We had a very pleasant drive to Pattaya – partly by highway and partly by local roads. We actually found out that we were quite a bit south of Pattaya city in a place called Jomtien. The Renaissance Hotel and resort is really beautiful too! Amazingly high lobby with flow through air creating a nice breeze! We were checked in very fast and upgraded to a high floor room – with a balcony and beautiful view! See the pictures below.

We then we tried to go for an early dinner at their 609 restaurant as the other restaurant at the front of the property was being used for a private event. In addition to that private event, there was a wedding going on in the garden! It was a very busy night for the hotel! However when we got to the 609 restaurant they seated us under some speakers and within a few minutes a lady with a very high pitched voice was starting to talk in Thai. I normally like listening to the Thai language being spoken as it is very hushed and melodic but this was neither and as we were both tired this was not going over well! It ended up that there was a fashion show going to happen in the restaurant! The waiter was very good when I explained that the noise was too much and he relocated us upstairs to the lobby bar where we then were served our dinner in some peace and quiet! Then back up to the room we went and we were just shutting down for the night and BOOM the fire works started! Now that was cool – being up so high and watching fireworks before bed!

Now it is our last full day at the Marriott and after breakfast, we found out how to get to the lower pool. As it was during the week, not many families were there so I thought we would be safe at the lower pool despite the kids play/pool area being behind it. There was only 1 other couple when we arrived and soon another man and couple were there and that was it for the afternoon. Again, Andrew went swimming and I saw another high stair drop off so I elected to just stand in the water on the steps I could reach. Was there for about 15 minutes and decided to get out. My walker was right next to the pool entrance and just to the right of that was the single man on a double bed tanning himself. I stepped out of the pool and onto the tile and boom! Over I went as I had slipped on the very slippery tile and fallen down on my right side and hit my hip and shoulder. I think I really scared the man in the tanning bed. So that was a bit of a shock and I could have hurt myself more if I had been about 4 more inches to the right as the tanning beds have a metal frame. I was able to get up and slowly get back to our chairs and umbrella however so much for the massage the day before!

We then decided to go back to the room where I could rest in the coolness of the room before dinner. We had planned to go for dinner at the restaurant that overlooks the beach and is next to the pool where I had fallen. After a nap I did feel a little better so after sun set at 5:30pm, we moseyed down to the Fish Bar for dinner. And what a dinner it was! I had a seafood saffron risotto that was to die for! I have eaten a LOT of risotto in my life – the amount of saffron in this risotto plus the FRESH seafood was unreal! I actually wrote in Google Translate to the waitress how good it was and how I had just been to Italy last month and it was better than the risotto that I had eaten there. They were very pleased and the chef came out to thank me! We took some night time pictures on the way back to the hotel and stopped at the bar for a night cap as we realized we had not used the “free drink” tickets that we were given when we checked in! All in all a very nice, but not very busy hotel!

Tomorrow we are being picked up by the same driver who took us to the laundromat and driven to Pattaya where we are staying for the next 5 days.

So the next day, again we had an awesome breakfast indoors. This time I DID take pictures of the expansive buffet! Then we gathered up our laundry and off we went on our “laundry” journey, which was quite fun! First, the laundry was wheelchair accessible – big TICK mark! We did laundry in the open air with other Thai people – along with sitting and sweating away at the tables in the laundromat. Our driver was to pick us up at 2pm and we were done by 1:30 so as there was a 7-11 across the road (there are TONS of 7-11’s here – just like Starbucks in North America). As Marriott only sells Pepsi around the world (only issue I have with them), I was starting to crave some Coke Zero. Got to 7-11 and they had HUGE steps. So crossed the road and sure enough in this man’s store there was a fridge with mini Coke Zero’s! I bough all 6 of them – they were 11 bhat each – so a total of 66 bhat and then Andrew got a rather large can of cold beer for 60 bhat so a total of 126 bhat or about $4 Cdn. To pay basically just over 40 cents for a Coke Zero was a bargain that I had never seen before! I was a very happy camper going back to the Marriott with our clean clothes and my Coke Zero stash! Our driver even saw us in the store and came to the curb to pick us up – he was running early!

Back at the Marriott, after relaxing from our outing, I finally got up the courage to look at what happened to my knitting – the green sweater was cut in 1 place (it is now completely put back into a ball) and the purple one was cut in 3 places. I am going to have to make something smaller with that!

To resolve my knitting stress, I decided to have a massage. I THOUGH I signed up for a head, neck, upper back massage however once I got into the facility (it was not accessible I found out so they took my through a back route and into a private building instead used for couples massages) – it was at totally different massage I received. Holy smokes! It was a good thing I am taking pain medication as even at a “gentle” rating, those Thai fingers can be nasty! The massage starts with a feet cleanse which is traditional. Then you get onto the massage table. The massage table is a bit wider than the ones I am used to and that is because the lady gets up on the table and massages you from there – when it comes to your lower back and legs. Then she massages your upper back (I have no idea how she did that – she was on my side on the table) and then she goes to the front and massages your shoulders. As I did not really want to discuss my medical issues with her I did not tell her about my Botox on the right side of my neck and back. She could tell though! She told me my right side muscles are weak, which is a very true statement! So after an hour and a bit of that treatment I was ready for bed!

So we ordered room service for dinner! I ended the night with a far too big Creme Caramel which Andrew of course had to help me finish!

What a beautiful morning to wake up to! Let`s go for breakfast and then explore the property! So first mistake – sitting outside for breakfast – that sun crept over the building and got incredibly hot very fast! Note to selves – sit inside for the rest of the trip! The breakfast buffet here is unreal – I thought the buffet at the Sheraton Dubai Creek was big – this one is bigger and has tons of different types of food on it! More pictures on that later – I am shy about taking pictures on the first day 🙂 Here are some of what I ate though!

The Marriott property is fairly large and lush which we could see from the HOT patio that we were sitting on. After breakfast we walked around and checked out the big pool, the aquarium, the beach and what we thought lead down to the other pool but as there were stairs, were puzzled how to get there. See pictures below for the beautiful property!

We then went and sat by the pool under the umbrella for shade and did various thinks like nap, nap and more napping! Andrew also enjoyed the pool. I got my feet wet however decided not to swim as the pool was not safe for me to get into due to the large stair to go down. I was happy just hanging out getting my legs to cool down! So far no burns! On the way back from the pool we “researched” how to get laundry done as I had been looking on Google Maps and did not realize that we were farther out of Rayong than expected. Of course the front desk ladies and bellmen were right on it and arranged a ride to a local town about 7km away where the driver would take us, leave us for 2 hours and then the same driver would bring us back! All for the cheap price of $16 Cdn. Not bad. Doing laundry cost us about 5 Cdn so that was a total of $21 Cdn. Andrew figured we saved a BUNCH of money by not having the hotel do it and he did not have to have someone else clean is underwear… must be a man thing!

We then had dinner at the hotel – which due to the time zone change was a light dinner of chicken satays GF of course! The chef is VERY attentive and is wanting to make sure that I have as good a meal as everyone else which is the Thai way of service.

Now, on those night shots from our balcony – what are all those green lights doing on the ocean? Those are squid fishermen! They fish with a green light and a lure and the squid are attracted to the green light so they swim up near the boat and then eat what is on the lure and are caught! The squid we are talking about are large – between 6 inches and a foot! Quite pretty to look at the boats shining all night long!

So we touched down in Manila right at 8:30am on time (thank goodness!) and out the front door of the plane we were ushered (my walker had flown in the plane for this flight) and right to a sign with my name on it! For the 3 parties who had short connections to the flight to Bangkok, there were agents waiting to escort them to their next flight! Very cool! YVR should do this too! Okay, lets focus, into a wheelchair I was placed and whisked away with Andrew almost running behind with my walker and the knapsack (single now) on it. We had to go through security AGAIN! Oh dear. This is becoming a nightmare! So this time they did not like my toe clippers. Whatever lets get moving – leave them behind!

Then they power walked us back towards the gate we had just come from? Oh interesting, the flight to Bangkok was at the gate NEXT to where we arrived! However it was a secure gate (one that you have to go through a scanner to enter) and I guess those of us in wheelchairs had to use the “accessible” scanner station instead down the hall. So we lined up waiting to board the plane, they examined my walker about 10 times like they had not seen one before, I demonstrated how it closed etc and they said they would try and keep it on the plane. So we got onto the flight to Bangkok – this is a Airbus 330 – so a different and NEWER configuration! Very nice. We were in 1 D/F together which is in the middle. I had chosen those seats as the ones at the window are singles! Then they came up to me and informed me that my walker had to go into the hold of the plane – I was fine and prepared for that as I knew we were on a smaller plane with a configuration that I was not familiar with. Their “closets” only open half way – they are not full length closets so therefore my walker could not fit. Then we had the “gluten free meal” scenario happen – the previous crew had told me that they had ordered one for this flight (which I HIGHLY suspected would not make it) so I mentioned it to the flight attendant and sure enough no meal. However, I really should not have said anything as then they worried about it! Oh dear – I told them to not worry and I was fine. Eventually they cooled down and the flight eventually left after the back of the bus boarded.

Great flight – it is so bizarre flying Airbus birds from Boeing ones when you are AWAKE. The “wire” flight controls make a different noise from the Boeing ones. Needless to say, I had no knitting to do so I decided that watching a movie would be a great thing instead – do I remember what movie I watched? Nope. I was horizontal by then and sound asleep!

Next thing I knew, Andrew had eaten breakfast or lunch, whatever it was and we were landing in Bangkok and I must become vertical! That was a QUICK flight! Very cool! I like 3 1/2 hour flights like this! As already arranged as I KNOW the Bangkok airport is HUGE, a wheelchair met us at the plane and off we went to immigration and with my fingers crossed to find out 3 pieces of checked luggage – I sure HOPED that backpack made it! Just like last time we arrived and a very, VERY early hour of the am on Air India, we got through immigration just like that and then had to wait about 5 minutes for our luggage. Both our suitcases showed up – where is that backpack! It was NOT checked at the same time so obviously it might have gone in a different container. Then poof! There it was! Wahoo! I was so excited and our escort thought I was really funny I was so happy to see a piece of luggage! So then he pushed us out of the 2nd stage of immigration and into the public area. Now, trying to get rid of him was a bit of a challenge!

We had booked a private transfer to Rayong, where we were going to stay for the next 4 nights, however as our plane landed an hour early, and I had built time into our schedule if our original flight was late, we had about 90 minutes to burn before our driver would be picking us up. Before leaving Dubai, we had heard from the transfer company as they noticed our flight was coming in an hour early, however I told them at that time, that we wanted to stay with our 2pm pick up time. You never know what can happen when arriving at an airport and I sure see LOTS of examples at YVR!

So I explained very politely that we wanted to get some lunch and that our escort had helped us enough and that I could walk the rest of the way. He did not want to leave us though and insisted on taking us up to the 2nd floor where the restaurants are. At that point I got OUT of the wheelchair and thanked him for helping us profusely and Andrew gave me my walker off the luggage cart and where did we go? McDonalds! Don’t cringe please – I just needed some fries and Coke Zero as I was getting fairly hungry! We sat next to a power charge bar and I charged my phone while I ate and I also downed a protein bar at the same time. It was going to be 2-3 hours until we arrived at the Marriott in Rayong.

Now we proceeded back downstairs – it was kind of a freaky experience – they have “escalators” that you get onto that a flat and then they go down – similar to a ramp, then even out and then go down again to get down one floor. That was great for me and Hugo, however for Andrew and the luggage cart (which are allowed on this escalator things, it started sliding downhill! Unlike the malls in the Vancouver area that have similar types of set-ups – the wheels of the buggies LOCK when they are on the escalator! So this time instead of Andrew having to make sure I was safe on some type of transport, it was ME blocking the suitcases from falling off the buggy! We must have looked quite funny going down the slope!

We then went to Door 3 to try and find out ride. Oh my – what a LOT of names of people getting rides! We tried looking for my name but to no avail, could not find it. Good thing AGAIN I had a data plan as I contacted the lady and eventually found where we were to be – we HAD walked past my name however it was listed under a different company that had confirmed with me. Moving on, she then called the car and we went outside and met up with our driver who was driving a beautiful black SUV. In we got and had a very comfortable ride to Rayong.

The Marriott Hotel in Rayong is beautiful! The meeting rooms are on the 1st floor and the large lobby is on the 2nd floor along with the Salt restaurant, Coffee cafe and Lobby lounge. We checked in and we were upgraded to a corner suite which was very nice! With both of us exhausted at this point, we put our luggage away and went downstairs for an early dinner and then a walk prior to retiring for the evening.