(Daniel) On the drive to Bangkok this morning, Nii and I worked hard to speak to several other shipping agents.  The Air freight companies called several times to check the dimensions of the Wolf and trailer.   Still convinced that their method would work out cheaper.  They started to throw problems at me, like all fluids must be drained from the vehicle, one company insisted on the engine being removed first!

Our arrival in Bangkok coincided with the weekend.  Which judging by the way that phones go down at 4pm everyday, would mean a three day wait for quotes.  As I negotiated the Bangkok traffic looking for a suitable area to stay.  I spotted a sign for Bangkok Port.  Following this we found ourselves in a maze of slum housing that surrounds the docks.  Not suitable to stay unfortunately, but littered with shipping companies and freight forwarders. Nii and I stopped at an internet café, where I used my laptop to send out a generic quote request to about 40 companies. 

Afterwards we found a place to stay in Ratchadaphisek, a popular location for students.  Our own residence was infact a halls serving the university and surrounding business’  The studio apartment was perfect, with a small kitchen and plenty of space to work.  These apartments cost only 600bt per day, but could be rented on a monthly basis for 4000bt, that’s city centre living for £80 per month!   The only thing which it didn’t have was an internet connection.  Outside the new underground Mass Rapid Transit system (MRT) connected us to most of Bangkok via that line, or the BTS Skytrain Monorail which it connected to. 

Everyday, while we left the Wolf in the secure parking, Nii and I used the transport systems to take us to Esplanade, a new shopping centre with free wireless and many restaurants to sit at while we worked.  Or to the amazing new Siam Paragon, situated at Siam square, where Siam Discovery, the Siam Centre, Siam Square shopping and the MBK centre sit like giants around a huge junction of roads, Skytrain and walkways connecting the massive shopping malls to each other like arteries.   On one such trip to the Malls, I had t-shirts and stickers made up with the Lone Wolf logo, including two extra large stickers for the Wolf. 

The weekend went by slowly, I received some requests for further information from companies which I had emailed.  But it wasn’t until Monday that some prices started to come back.  In the end, about 10 companies quoted.  The air freight companies who had called the most, asking about everything from customs clearance to exact weights and dimensions, never called with a price.  The quotes which did come back from the shipping agents, all sat around $3000,  I was gutted.  Worse than the price, which would buy me 2 years residence in Bangkok, was the shipping time, which would take over three weeks including loading.  The earliest and cheapest of the quotes came from ANS shipping, their figure was only around $75 cheaper, but they quoted an arrival date of the 24th of August.  Nick Amy and Oliver would arrive in LA on the 14th, at least ten days wasted.  I knew that this was my only option, so I took it.

In England, the others tried to change their tickets, but Expedia, who bill themselves as the travelers friend, would not change the tickets for any price.  Neither the start or return date could be adjusted, even when the Company made the mistake of booking a second set of tickets for a more desirable date, they simply told Nick and Amy that they would not honour the misordered set.  

I had my own new issue aswell.  The flight from Bangkok to LA was proving difficult to track down.  All airlines offering services were fully booked, from the 14th all the way to the 30th.  Would I be even later than the vehicle?  For three days I called companies, searched the net and frantically pestered ticket agents.  No-one could help.  Meanwhile I made arrangements with the shipping company to prepare the vehicle and load it myself at a container yard outside town.

The day for loading came around.  I started by paying the shipping agents in full, then drove to the container yard on fumes, completing the carnet paperwork, then packing the vehicle into the P&O Nedloyyd 40ft Hi-top container.  Unlike the last shipping I did not have to remove the roofrack, after discovering that this would not have been necessary with the extra height of the hi-top container.    With the vehicle loaded and customs paperwork filled out, I travelled back to Bangkok to continue my search for a flight ticket.

After daily visits to the local shopping malls to surf the wireless internet, I found a flight with Philippine Airways.  Exited at the prospect of finally getting out of Asia, I went personally to their offices, and collected the ticket.  I would leave Thailand’s new Savarnabhumi Airport on the 14th of August at 1.30pm.  Fly to Manila first, arriving there at 6.00pm, then fly out of Manila for Los Angeles at 10.00pm, thanks to the international dateline, arriving the same day at LAX at 7.30pm!

My work in Bangkok was done, the date now was the 6th of August.  I had time left to rest a while.  Nii and I discussed our options, eventually deciding to go to Phi Phi, the island where we met.  I could do some spear fishing, and we could both catch up with our friends.   Whilst in Bangkok, we had visited the Cinema most evening, and had caught up on the latest movies, Die Hard 4, Grind House Deathproof and Planet Terror and a few others.

At 7pm on the 7th of August, after waiting for most of the day, and eating a whole load of sushi, we boarded the 24 seat government bus, which would take us overnight form Bangkok to Krabi.  From there we would catch a boat to Phi Phi Island.

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