Robby:Sounds good.
Nina:There was quite a bit of turbulence about halfway through.
Robby:Scary.
Nina:How are u? How’s the weather?
Robby:Hot and humid, very hot. I just looked at the weather forecast; it’s the same there.
Nina:Sounds like music to my ears, hahaha. Cold and grey at home.
Robby:Yup!!! See you in a few days then. Are you sure you’re going to be OK?
Nina:Yes, fine, looking forward to having a few days to recharge.
Robby:I’ll WhatsApp u later after I finish dangling down the side of a Singapore building.
Nina:Lol. Yep. Spk later xx
Nina followed a line of passengers, including irritating children riding on suitcases masquerading as scooters as if they were in a playground, and waited in a long, fairly disorganised line to get through passport control. She held her passport nervously in her left hand and gripped the handle of her case with the other. There was always something slightly alarming and fairly intimidating about a long line of immigration desks, as far as she was concerned. Not that she’d ever travelled very far, mostly to Spain on holiday. Whenever she arrived in official-looking areas, with scary individuals dressed in uniforms with epaulettes, she felt as if she had done something wrong. Arrival in Bangkok was no different.
After a long wait, by the time she got to the immigration desk, she nervously slid her passport under the panel and felt as if she had hundreds of kilos of cocaine in her bag, even though she’d never even looked at a drug in her life, let alone thought about smuggling one.
As she stood nervously and looked at the woman behind the counter, there wasn’t much evidence of the famous Thai smile she’d heard so much about in her pre-travel sleuthing. The immigration official held up Nina’s passport from behind the screen, squinted, looked from the passport to Nina’s face, held the passport closer and then put the passport down. Nina gulped as rather than stamping it and shoving it back under the gap, thewoman continued to stare at the passport and then flicked her eyes up to Nina’s.
What followed was a line of questioning in English that made Nina’s heart race. She felt as if she was a criminal about to be carted off to an inner room where an official person would conduct all sorts of body searches in places she didn’t even know about. She felt her palms get clammy as she answered the questions: yes, she was on holiday, yes, she was travelling alone, but yes she would be meeting her husband and no, she didn’t have anything in her bags that she shouldn’t have. Because she was so nervous, she nearly made a joke about not having packed her bag herself but stopped herself just in time.
The immigration officer, as if she was clearly enjoying herself, asked a couple more questions, held the passport for a few more seconds, thumped it down, squinted, held it up again, put on a pair of glasses, squinted again, and then finally slammed it down, stamped it heavily, before shoving it back under the panel and looking the other way.
Nina didn’t say a word, grasped the passport tightly, and scurried on past as soon as she could. So much for the Thai smile, but at least she’d arrived in one piece. Time for loungers, cocktails and lazing around in the sun. Bring it on.
21
Nina followed the signs to the driver pick-up and taxi area as she walked along in a throng of passengers at the same time as rereading the email instructions from the hotel. She was looking for someone traditionally dressed in a red outfit who would be holding up an iPhone with her name on it. Nina hoped the hotel was going to be nice. After much deliberation between the Shangri-La, sitting on the river, and a hotel near the shopping district, in the end, Nina and Robby had opted for a privately owned five-star boutique hotel not far from the old town that also sat on the river and was serviced by the traditional Bangkok ferries.
The boutique hotel wasexcruciatinglyexpensive, more than any hotel they’d looked at and Nina had baulked at the cost. She’d never really travelled much before and felt quite out of sorts with the amount of money the hotel had cost. Robby, however, had been adamant that they were going to stay wherever she wanted. Princess vibes right here right now. So after lusting at the traditional rooms and facilities of the hotel, with its old-fashioned traditional decor, king-size four-poster beds, antique Thai furniture, and colonial wing, they’d booked a top room. Now, she was questioningeverything.
After hustling along in an extremely busy exit area, Nina couldn’t see the wood for the trees and tried not to let herself panic. As she looked around she was faced with a line of mostly men in black suits, holding up their iPhones horizontally or little white cards with names on them. Scanning down the line of suits, she spied a woman in a red silk outfit with gold epaulettes and flicked her eyes to the woman’s iPhone. Nina’s name wasn’t on the phone. She continued skimming along the barrier until she suddenly saw a similarly dressed woman with Nina’s name in front of her. Nina felt herself do a little sigh of relief. As she approached the woman, the Thai smile she’d heard so much about was more than evident. The woman held out her hand to take one of Nina’s bags and spoke to her in English. A few minutes later, they were standing by the exit doorway and making their way outside. As the doors slid back and Nina followed the woman, the humidity nearly knocked her for six; she blinked as the heat seemed to slam down onto her body like a heat blanket from above.
The woman appeared to read Nina’s thoughts in a flash. ‘Hot, yes? Don’t worry. You'll be fine in a second once we’re in the car,’ the woman said, looking over to a manically busy area where taxis, cars, and small minivans were in a jumbled mess as far as the eye could see. Nina couldn’t quite fathom how any of the cars were going to move. Again, the woman appeared to read her thoughts.
‘The car will be here shortly. It’s just around the corner.’
A few minutes later, as taxis darted in and out and stressed-out people slammed cases into boots, a car wedged itself diagonally towards the pavement. The woman smiled and, in one swift movement, opened the door and gently guided Nina in. Nina hopped into the back as the driver jumped out and deposited her suitcase from the pavement into the boot. Nina inhaled and then let out a long, slow whoosh of air throughher mouth. The air conditioning was so cold compared to the humidity outside the window it felt as if it might burn the inside of her nostrils. She sat back and looked out the window, wondering how the driver was proposing to untangle them from the mess of the arrivals area.
Whatever the driver did, it worked, and before she knew it, they sped away from the airport and edged onto the motorway. Nina peered out at zooming traffic as they went under a gigantic ornate gold bridge welcoming them to the Kingdom of Thailand. She stared out the window with the air conditioning blasting on her face and watched as all around her, crazy traffic flew by, and the towering skyscrapers of Bangkok lined up as far as the eye could see.
So many tall, high, mirrored buildings. Thick, warm, heat waves. Crazy, zooming traffic. Seeing the high-rise city, Nina realised why Robby and his company were in demand. She’d never seen as many tall buildings in her life. Skyscrapers stood side by side like soldiers high up into the sky for what looked like miles and miles on end.
About forty-five minutes later, they pulled off the motorway, inched forward in manic traffic, and Nina looked around at Bangkok life as it unfolded around her. Women sat side-saddle on mopeds, zipping here and there. Every which way she looked, streets teemed with activity. As they got nearer to the hotel and the old town, the gigantic skyscrapers of new Bangkok were replaced with beautiful, old, traditional Thai architecture.
As the car navigated tight Bangkok streets where every corner hosted bustling street food, Nina wasn’t quite sure where she was going to end up. The vibrant chatter of Bangkok surrounded her; a blast of honking horns, a buzzing of motorbikes, street vendors, stalls adding a clattering of pots and pans, bustling streets with dense traffic, and the sizzle of street food being cooked on open grills.
Slowly, the streets got narrower and a tad less busy. After the car pulled into a circular in/out driveway surrounded by tropical plants and lush vegetation, Nina looked around with wide eyes. There was a flurry of activity as the car pulled to a stop. Stepping out of the car, thick, sticky, balmy air, heavy with the scent of rain-soaked earth and blooming flowers, immediately enveloped her. Nina blinked at the change in temperature so in contrast to the chill of the cab.
For a minute, she gazed agape at a large orchid-shaped fountain in the centre of a tiled courtyard. It was surrounded by a teak pergola where massive fern hanging baskets cascaded to the floor and huge fuschia orchids nestled in large white pots beside lily pads floating in shallow water surrounding the fountain. She inhaled and could almost taste the humidity on her tongue and breathed in the smell of what she thought was lemongrass and frangipani in the air. As she took her bag, the tropical leaves rustled softly, and the sound of the fountain trickled around her. Nina Lavendar felt as if she’d just been plopped into a whole other world. Lovely Bay seemed a long, long, long way away indeed.
Nina stepped into the hotel reception area to be again hit by cool, blossom-scented air. Her footsteps made too much noise as she was surrounded by teak wood, beautiful old architecture, and traditional Thai furniture. Polished wooden floors reflected the light from traditional pendants overhead, and ceiling fans hummed above. Nina felt as if she’d been instantly washed in a hush of tranquillity.
