Preparations - Monday 20 November

Showcase tour........After an interesting first week during which I added a couple of day trips to this website, it’s time for the showcase tour for this one month visit to Thailand. For the next couple of weeks I will be up country hoping for no further dramatics; I’d rather be paying for a room in a hotel than one in hospital. Therefore this tour will require attention to detail for survival rather than concentrating on an itinerary. There is a planned focal point for this tour and as a write, a preliminary target to aim for but this tour is very much ad lib. I just don’t know where I will be tomorrow night.
Toyota Vios 1.5........In terms of preparation there is only one objective today. We need transport. It’s a long story but we’ve ended up renting a car from a small business near Rangsit. The fact is that we don’t need an airport collection and we could have arranged to have a vehicle delivered for a fee. However we decide to go and collect it even though it means a long trip across town. Oddly we’ve had a phone call suggesting 4pm but the original plan was for collection tomorrow morning. As there’s no one available then, we get a concession to collect early. The trip to Rangsit by public minivan proves arduous taking the best part of an hour then we are further delayed by a visit to a fashion mall!! Finally we make it to the collection point and complete the paperwork. It’s now a question of making it back in one piece. There’s bound to be traffic problems on the return trip and Katoon sees the opportunity to avoid the main routes but doesn’t factor in that many other people are thinking the same. We get totally clogged up in side streets. To add to the misery, although we’ve had rain, a real thunderstorm develops and premature darkness overtakes us. The trip back becomes a two hour nightmare and for Katoon further woes as she’s left the washing out, much of it needed for tomorrow’s departure. Finally we get back to the village but need to arrange dinner. In all the excitement I pay little attention to the vehicle we just hired but we must be reasonably happy since the Toyota Vois seems practically new and feels comfortable enough. I’m sure this 1.5 litre model will do the job as an economy vehicle perfectly well. At 7.30pm the job is done except that Katoon now needs to get the fans working. We agree that a delayed start will be needed tomorrow but that would have been the case anyway. Next Page