The Curmudgeonly Traveller

14/10/23 Siem Reap - Bangkok The Air Asia flight is so intimate that I may have inadvertently scratched someone else’s leg. No problems with the cab meeting us at the airport, although it's immediately obvious that drivers are not as friendly here as they were in Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia. First impressions of Bangkok? Well, it's cloudy and a bit miserable with lots of tall buildings. In fact, it looks a bit like London. We get to area we're staying in, which is Bang Rak, Silom or Sathorn, depending on your point of view, and we  eventually work out the key card. The Airbnb is very nice, if a little motel-like and some of the passing motorbikes sound like planes taking off. Sit around on the balcony for an hour or so before bravely venturing to the 7/11 on the corner to buy beer and peanuts with dried anchovies and chillies which are, disappointingly, not a Cambodian snack after all. We go for a wander. The roads are scary busy and, unlike in Hanoi, the cars and mopeds...

11/10/23 Siem Reap I have a confession. We weren’t planning to go to Kuala Lumpur at all, and the only reason we did was because the cheapest flight from Da Nang to Siem Reap was £180pp sans baggage, whereas DN-KL-SR was £90 all in. So, let’s go to Malaysia, why not? But then, on the day we left London, Air Asia changed the KL-SR flight from 6pm to 6am. This would have meant an extra night in KL and a half day yawning through Angkor. So I cancelled the flight and got my money back for that, but not for the baggage which cost as much as the flight, which they get to keep, because that’s how the super-rich ‘earn’ their money. Air Asia joins my black list along with TGI Friday, Barclaycard, B&Q and the London Borough of Bromley. I rebooked through Vietjet and paid a fortune in non-refundable baggage fees, before learning that hold luggage was included in the price. KL departure annexe C is gargantuous, reasonably-priced, empty and actually quite nice. Ho Chi Minh has one security guy ...

8/10/23 Kuala Lumpur Due to the coming of the apocalypse and unsuitable footwear last night, I was unable to spend my last 660,000 dong (£22). Luckily, Da Nang International is a member of the Worldwide Union of Airport Thievery and it covers the price of two coffees and a sandwich. Coincidentally, it was the same cost as a ticket to Kuala Lumpur. We get through the airport easily enough where a pre-arranged taxi is meant to be waiting. Nothing. There’s no data roaming for me at KL airport. Try to connect with airport wifi but it demands I register and confirm by email, which of course I cannot. Only because I happen to be leaning on the airport wifi help desk, a lady tells me I can type in anything, not confirm by email, and it works. Then there’s a barrage of WhatsApp messages from taxi drivers, taxi companies, Airbnb hosts and assistants etc. All sent when we were flying. I have to send my picture to the taxi driver, his to me, ours to his boss, and we finally meet. Roaming fails ag...