The 19th was mostly cloudy in Kandy, with some sun and some rain. I again walked along the lake in the morning, watching for a time the birds and the bats in the trees. The giant monitor lizard was resting on the lake shore in the exact same place where I had seen it the previously morning. On a Saturday there were lots of pilgrims, mostly clad in white, visiting the Temple of the Tooth.
After a leisurely day, in mid afternoon I took one last walk along the lake and again saw the big monitor lizard crawling along the lake shore and then resting on the edge of the lake. I could get to within three or feet of it.
I showered and then took a tuktuk to the bus stand a little after 3. There were no seats on the 3:30 bus bound for the airport near Negombo on the coast, so I waited for the next bus, which left about 4:20. I enjoyed the views as the bus descended from the hills toward the coast. The bus was crowded and hot, though. Traffic was heavy along the route and it took more than three hours to reach the airport, at about 7:30. It got dark just before 7.
My flight to Bangkok left at 1:20 the next morning. I could have booked a 7 a.m. flight but still would have had to get to the airport at 5, and the earlier flight was about $50 cheaper. The flight to Bangkok took just over three hours. I could see lots of lights below until we headed out over the Indian Ocean. I got no sleep and was uncomfortable as I had a seat that didn't recline.
The sky had already begun to get light when we landed in Bangkok just before 6. I took the metro and then a taxi to my guest house, arriving before 8. Bangkok was cloudy and humid. I took a shower and then napped from about 9 until 12:30, but was still tired after I got up. After lunch I spent time in an internet cafe and later read some Thai newspapers. with quite guarded reporting after the coup two months earlier. Late in the afternoon I walked to Khao San Road and back. For dinner, as for lunch, I ate pad thai (thai noodles), a very welcome change after months of Indian and Sri Lankan food.
The next morning I took the river boat down the Chao Phraya River and then the metro to near Bumrungrad Hospital, where I had my annual physical, as I had done the year before. I spent much of the afternoon reading and people watching in the comfortable hospital lobby before catching a canal boat and then walking the rest of the way back to my guest house.
The next day was hot, humid, and cloudy. I read in my room until check out time at 11. I had breakfast and then read for most of the afternoon until a late lunch about 4. About 5 I left in a van for the airport, an hour and a half trip in rush hour traffic. My flight to Incheon in South Korea left just before midnight.
I slept for a while on the flight, waking up just as we were passing over the Shanghai area, full of lights below. We headed out over the sea and landed in Incheon after 7 in the morning after a five and a half hour flight. Just before landing the plane took a zigzag route along the west coast of South Korea, passing over scenic islands just before landing. The flight was calm though a typhoon was about to hit Taiwan.
My flight to Saipan left after 9, heading south over the Korean peninsula, passing over Pusan, and then over Kyushu, the southernmost of the four main islands of Japan. The sky was mostly cloudy until we had passed over Kyushu and flew over the blue Pacific, but I did get some views of the coast of Kyushu. After a flight of a little over four hours, my plane landed in Saipan about 2:30 in the afternoon. I was glad to be back after more than eight months away.
After a leisurely day, in mid afternoon I took one last walk along the lake and again saw the big monitor lizard crawling along the lake shore and then resting on the edge of the lake. I could get to within three or feet of it.
I showered and then took a tuktuk to the bus stand a little after 3. There were no seats on the 3:30 bus bound for the airport near Negombo on the coast, so I waited for the next bus, which left about 4:20. I enjoyed the views as the bus descended from the hills toward the coast. The bus was crowded and hot, though. Traffic was heavy along the route and it took more than three hours to reach the airport, at about 7:30. It got dark just before 7.
My flight to Bangkok left at 1:20 the next morning. I could have booked a 7 a.m. flight but still would have had to get to the airport at 5, and the earlier flight was about $50 cheaper. The flight to Bangkok took just over three hours. I could see lots of lights below until we headed out over the Indian Ocean. I got no sleep and was uncomfortable as I had a seat that didn't recline.
The sky had already begun to get light when we landed in Bangkok just before 6. I took the metro and then a taxi to my guest house, arriving before 8. Bangkok was cloudy and humid. I took a shower and then napped from about 9 until 12:30, but was still tired after I got up. After lunch I spent time in an internet cafe and later read some Thai newspapers. with quite guarded reporting after the coup two months earlier. Late in the afternoon I walked to Khao San Road and back. For dinner, as for lunch, I ate pad thai (thai noodles), a very welcome change after months of Indian and Sri Lankan food.
The next morning I took the river boat down the Chao Phraya River and then the metro to near Bumrungrad Hospital, where I had my annual physical, as I had done the year before. I spent much of the afternoon reading and people watching in the comfortable hospital lobby before catching a canal boat and then walking the rest of the way back to my guest house.
The next day was hot, humid, and cloudy. I read in my room until check out time at 11. I had breakfast and then read for most of the afternoon until a late lunch about 4. About 5 I left in a van for the airport, an hour and a half trip in rush hour traffic. My flight to Incheon in South Korea left just before midnight.
I slept for a while on the flight, waking up just as we were passing over the Shanghai area, full of lights below. We headed out over the sea and landed in Incheon after 7 in the morning after a five and a half hour flight. Just before landing the plane took a zigzag route along the west coast of South Korea, passing over scenic islands just before landing. The flight was calm though a typhoon was about to hit Taiwan.
My flight to Saipan left after 9, heading south over the Korean peninsula, passing over Pusan, and then over Kyushu, the southernmost of the four main islands of Japan. The sky was mostly cloudy until we had passed over Kyushu and flew over the blue Pacific, but I did get some views of the coast of Kyushu. After a flight of a little over four hours, my plane landed in Saipan about 2:30 in the afternoon. I was glad to be back after more than eight months away.
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