It would be remiss of me not to include the one night or rather one day I spent in Bangkok.
My Ethopian Airlines flight landed around midday on the 28th Jan which , considering when we landed in Addis Abiba and eventually disembarked from the plane our boarding time for the connecting flight had already started five minutes prior.
So basically I was all of 10/15min in Addis Abiba and then boarding the next flight which was a bit chaotic at 00:15 am odd as we were three flights using one departure gate ( Zanzibar / Johannesburg and Bangkok) . You just prayed you got on the right transit bus to the right aircraft !
My 15 min in Ethiopia resulted me being kicked out of the immigration queue in Bangkok due to not having a yellow fever vaccination ( all countries in Africa, excluding South Africa, required this)
This aside the staff were extremely helpful and two hours later I was allowed in after going through Health controls at the airport.
As the stay was to be only one night I stayed in a hostel I stayed in before which is very close to the main railway station. This required two train trips from BKK to the main station and then a 850m slog with 25kg luggage in a duffle bag and a backpack !
As soon as I offloaded at the Matini Hostel I hit the road to Queen Sirikit Park by Bolt Bike Courier ( have helmet , can travel) . Always entertaining with these guys maneuvering in the city! This park is a MUST visit if in the vicinity and is also close to a night market which was closed the night I was there and not to sure why but also adds a vibrancy to the area. I recall having a really good coffee in a tiny hole in the wall coffee shop . Think we could get 6 people max into the shop and then you have to slide past each other. Pick-pocketers delight I'm sure !
But the park itself is deceptively big. Reminds me a bit of Central park, NY in a way but only because the running / cycling tracks are in Wachirabenchathat Park (Rot Fai Park) which adjoins the main park and you don't even realize you are crossing over into the new park. Great energy there with all the runners and cyclists and you quickly get the sense of the Thais strong sense of community and also lifestyle. Although one sees poverty in Thailand you also get the sense of the richness of the fabric of society , the lack of ego that goes with this. I'm hoping after this extended stay it will remain this way.
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