further away than we thought!
sighed into the computer by Rob
Bangkok, Thailand
Jboy13(as of today) and I settled ourselves in a strategic corner of the airport-designated “Meeting Point” outside Arrival Hall Exit B with a feeling of quiet satisfaction. We had managed to successfully catch the elusive “Airport Express” (the bus that no one knew the timetable for) and make it to the new Bangkok Suvarnabhumi International Airport, find the international arrivals terminal (hey, this is one BIG airport!), share an ice-cream and steamed bun, top up my phone AND find this public waiting area in time to see that flight BI515 had landed ten minutes earlier. Perfect timing….and a perfect vantage point to spot the Hs and attract their attention when they emerged from the customs hall. Remember we had texted them from Laos just hours before they were due to board their flight? It was hard to believe they were actually here now in Bangkok.
Bangkok Airport is HUGE. Four or five levels, huge video screens everywhere, cafes, book shops, electronics shops. There are also long multi-level travellators and escalators snaking their way all over the building. So finding the arrivals hall was not as easy as one might think. We settled in, figuring it would take at least 45 minutes before we had any chance of seeing our friends, but eagerly scanning faces in anticipation anyway. After half an hour, I asked Jboy(now)13! to check down at the other end of the meeting point area (which is about 100m long) for any sign – just in case they were waiting there. But really, big, broad and blonde Mr H is not an easy person to miss in a crowd. No sign.
We continued to wait. After an hour and a half, J13 pulled out his airport map and noticed that there actually appeared to be *three* arrival exits shown. I ran off to investigate with a slight feeling of disquiet – could they have used one of the others? However, Arrival Exit C was domestic only, but while Arrival Exit A, which was out of bounds to the waiting public, did not appear to be used by many people, it *did* have some doors to the outside for passengers; perhaps they had gone out there? After observing the flow of people, however, I felt sure-ish they had not taken that little-used route and returned to J13, uncertainly confident that we were unlikely to have missed them… surely!
2 hours passed.
Then 2 1/2 hours.
“OK, I think we must have somehow missed them! Let’s go find someone to help.”
Airport Help Desk assured us typical check through time is 45 minutes to an hour tops. Yes, flight BI515 had been processed over 2 hours ago. Did we want to make a public announcement? There was no way the Hs would have spent two hours waiting around, so there seemed little point. J13 and I scanned the taxi stands and the bus departure points one last time, and then dejectedly returned to our own bus. We were disappointed at missing them….had we just turned away for a split second at the crucial time? We just hoped they had printed out our emergency get-to-the-guesthouse directions. Our trip back from the airport was now in peak traffic time and took over an hour and a half, double the outward journey.
When we arrived back at the guesthouse Rach and the others were waiting on the pavement. Eagerly we asked the burning question, “Have the H’s arrived yet?”
A puzzled expression came over the children’s faces.
“No… aren’t they with you?”
My frustration now turned into disbelief. Surely they weren’t still at the airport waiting for us!?
A text clarifies all.
The Hs flight from Auckland had been delayed 5 hours, and they were now stranded in Brunei overnight, scheduled to board another flight tomorrow at 6pm! They had tried to text me yesterday, but having transferred from Laos back to my Thai phone number I had missed that message!
How is it that Brunei can feel further away than New Zealand?
Here’s hoping tomorrow brings us face to face!
Tags: children, postcard: Thailand, transport
rayres
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