FIRST VIEW OF THE FAR EAST - TO HONG KONG

Sunday 16th December 1984 – Pattaya/Hong Kong

Woke up pretty early and sat out on the balcony until Rab stirred. Had breakfast in a leisurely fashion, finished off the packing (and the beers) and then joined the rest in the  foyer while Rab had one more sortie to see if there was anything she had overlooked. The bus turned up pretty promptly at 13.00 and and we were off on the long and boring trip to Bangkok. We had the tapes and a singalong going for a while but gradually got quieter as time went by. There were a couple of stops, the first of which was to buy some jackfruit from a wayside stall. I think I mentioned that when we were in Singapore we saw them preparing jackfruit. They are enormous – about the size of a large watermelon – but they are not all edible – the edible bits are cut out of the fruit. It had a most interesting flavour, part mango/banana/pineapple but was very rich and had a curious texture – a little rubbery. Rab cautiously nibbled one piece because she had read an article warning travellers about eating anything from roadside stalls. Maybe I was lucky, but I ate quite a lot and wasn’t any the worse for it. The second stop  was at the same restaurant where we had stopped on the way to Pattaya where we grabbed a couple of beers and some potato chips to keep the wolf from the door.

We arrived at the airport after driving through the most appalling slums, which of course had all the South Africans off and running about how dare anyone criticise us etc, completely ignoring the fact that here it is at least possible to haul yourself out of the slums. After three and a half hours in an air-conditioned coach it really was hot and sticky when we got out at the airport and we had to hang around for quite a while as our flight was only due to take off at 18.05. we flew Cathay Pacific which had been rated by our much travelled Jennifer as the best in the world. It was good but nothing really extraordinary and the seats seemed to be a bit narrower than those on SwissAir. The meal was good – prawn cocktail followed by a choice of lamb or chicken and a Pear Helene. Although German wine was advertised, there was only French wine, which I find too acid.

There was no problem getting through Customs although Jennifer was certain that we would all be searched. Jim had sent his chauffer, Jimmy, to fetch Rab and me in the company Daimler and we were whisked off to our hotel in next to no time. It seems pleasant enough, but not a patch on Boulevard in Singapore or the Royal Orchid in Bangkok.

The view from our room at night was.....

...better than the daylight view.

For another view of a stopover in Hong Kong see FAR CATHAY