Chiang-MaiThai: The reason it hurts so much to separate is because our souls are connected.

Goodbye Bangkok town

Goodbye Bangkok town, Bangkok town, goodbye,
We'll be leaving you today, for a country far away,
Though today we're stoney broke, without a single crown,
If we make a fortune, we'll come back and spend it in good old Bangkok town.

Sung to the tune: "Goodbye Melbourne Town" by Fred Hall
Apologies to Leonard Nelson

Suvarnabhumi Airport (Bangkok) 5:20 AM

It was early morning. We had been picked up in our 'Benz (of course) at 5:00 AM (groan) and had been spirited in the early morning gloom to Suvarnabhumi Airport. On the way, our guide remarked: "I think you have problem..." "Eh?" said Russell. "You have too much luggage." said our guide matter-of-factly. "Oh that? She'll be 'right" said Russell.

In fact, Lidy and Russell had nearly 100 Kilograms in excess baggage (actually 92 kilograms) between them and, they were worried. The night before, they had packed and re-packed their luggage, attempting to distribute the weight evenly between the bags. When they had arrived in Thailand, they had had two bags and two computer bags. Now, they had:

Two large suitcases;
Two backpacks;
Two computer bags;
One makeup bag;
One small suitcase;
One meduim carry bag;
A handbag;
A Saw U instrument;
And a few plastic bags containing souveniers.

As it turned out, there was no need for concern. Thai Airways took the excess baggage in their stride and issued us with boarding passes. Lidy requested the airline take her off the vegetarian food list but , as it turned out, that would be difficult because the food had already been loaded.

Check-in at Suvarnabhumi Airport

Once we had passed through Immigration and security, and we were inside the airport, Lidy decided that she wouldn't be able to eat any more vegetarian food because it was always the same. She searched the airport for some sticky buns to take on the flight.

Do you have any sticky buns?

Lidy got her provisions and as we had not eaten since last night and had some spare time, we decided to have breakfast. We walked around the airport checking out the fare at several cafe's. At last we settled on a little concourse cafe and settled down to a breakfast salad each.

Airport police on tricycles need to consult airport maps to get around

Finally, it was time to get going to our departure gate. As we walked through the airport, we were struck by a performance taking place on a small stage somewhere in the middle of the airport. Beautiful Thai dancing featuring a dancer dressed as the Hindu god Garuda. Garuda is the king of the birds and often acts as a messenger between the gods and men. He has the head, wings, talons and beak of an eagle and the body and limbs of a man.

The dancers perform a farewell dance for Lidy and Russell

It occurred to us that at each destination of our holiday, we had had a lovely send-off and it appeared that this was to be our send-off from Bangkok and Thailand. We stood and watched as the dance progressed; artistic, stylish and beautiful. The dancers danced and we stood and watched. As we watched, so many wonderful memories washed over us and we were both touched by the moment.

At the end of the dance, Garuda indicates the way to the departure lounge

Once the dance had finished, we moved on to the boarding gate to complete boarding formalities. This turned out to be a simple procedure and it wasn't long before we were seated on our wonderful Thai Airways 'plane and then, before we knew it we were up in the air and winging our way back home.