Nickbots visit SE Asia on SK, LH, EK, TG and (last but not least!) SQ

[nickbot]

Posts #198 and #199 now updated -sorry for the delay folks,...busy weekend!

[YK@HKG]

Hmm....salmon & caviar served in J??

I should try the HKG-BKK route sometime...although the departure (from HKG) and arrival (to HKG) times are not exactly ideal...

[nickbot]

Hmm....salmon & caviar served in J??

I should try the HKG-BKK route sometime...although the departure (from HKG) and arrival (to HKG) times are not exactly ideal...

Did you see the size of the portion however? Also, I'm assuming it's just lumpfish caviar, which whilst enjoyable as a garnish on canapes can be purchased for next to nothing.

Not to detract from the flight experience however, well worth a try on that route

[YK@HKG]

Did you see the size of the portion however? Also, I'm assuming it's just lumpfish caviar, which whilst enjoyable as a garnish on canapes can be purchased for next to nothing.

I did see the portion...but still..it's caviar

[nickbot]

TG Y DMK-KKC Part I - Boarding, take off and dining

Thai, flight No. TG 1040 [DMK-KKC]
Dep. 06:15, Arr. 07:10
Boeing 737-400
Y Class, Seats ??/?? (can't remember!)

We booked all of our TG internal flights directly through the TG website and were lucky enough (partly due to booking three months in advance) to get some pretty good rates (albeit for completely inflexible fares, which didn't really matter to us anyway). As a result, this short hop up to Khon Kaen cost us circa £30 each (that said, £30 is a great deal of cash to many folk in Thailand). In the past, we have paid for TG J on this route (still relatively cheap, and in our opinion generally worth it), but this time we preferred to spend our limited budget elsewhere, so went for the rock-bottom fares.

After waking up from our luxury overnight accommodation, we checked our bags in and proceeded straight through to security. Not a great deal to say about the domestic terminal at DMK (there may be some photographs later in the report once I dig them out), we just sat down next to the gate and read whilst waiting for the flight to be called. We were both feeling pretty shattered at this point and were looking forward to getting to our final destination. My Thai is really quite rudimentary (to say the least), but I quite like listening to the flight calls and trying to work out if it's my flight that's being called,...either that or you can just watch for the Thai speakers to leap to their feet at the gate We were soon called for boarding and proceeded through the BP check.

Thai 737 waiting to take us up to KK



We were warmly greeted by the FAs on the door, and headed down to our seats. It was my turn for the window seat this time (mrs nickbot was planning to snooze anyhow) so I stowed my bag in the overhead locker and settled down with my book.

Legroom shot (sorry, no painted toenails for those who are fans of SQFG's work



The next shot might puzzle some readers without a brief explanation -no, I'm not a safety card collector, but I do sometimes have trouble recognising/remembering what type of aircraft we've flown in (ok, I can tell the difference between a 744 and an A380, but some of the smaller ones give me trouble!)

Future aide memoire for trip report!



Inspiring view of DMK domestic terminal from aircraft LHS



Whilst the flight was relatively full, there were a reasonable number of spare seats, and we were lucky to have an empty seat next to us. Once again, for such a short hop this wasn't overly important, but it's always nice.

Obligatory self-portrait of tired looking nickbots



Handful of Nok Air planes seen during pushback, always like their paintjobs!



Climbing away from DMK on a beautifully clear morning



Pretty much as soon as the seatbelt lights went out, the meal service began. With a flight time of only 55 minutes, the FAs have to get their skates on (not literally, think that's against IATA regulations ). Breakfast consisted of a boxed meal.

Box of delights,...what delicacies lie within...?



...ahh, pretty much as expected!



I'm really anti-melon (apart from watermelon), so I picked out the pineapple and ate that, then ate the plain croissant. The other small pastry lying underneath the croissant appeared on first impressions to be some sort of sausage roll, but turned out to be filled with something resembling nasal mucous) The coffee, however, was perfectly drinkable. mrs nickbot didn't eat any of her meal, so I finished off her croissant, but decided to leave the snot-roll! When we flew this route in J in 2006, we had a delicious hot meal, but this was Y and one can't complain at the price we paid.

By way of contrast, here's the May 2006 J class meal on the same route

[nickbot]

TG Y DMK-KKC Part II - Approach and arrival

As we normally visit Thailand a little earlier in the year, and June/July is officially during the rainy season, it was refreshing to see that the fields were bright green in comparison to the dusty yellow of our last trip. Our friends later commented that it had been raining heavily over the preceeding few weeks, but we were lucky to have a completely dry spell during our stay.

May 2006 view, approaching KKC



June 2008 view, looking much more pleasant



On final approach into KKC



Smooth touchdown



Now, for those who haven't had the pleasure of visiting KKC, I'll try to help out with any possible confusion over the gate numbering system. It's simple really, there's Gate 1 and,...erm,...that's it

KKC terminal and sole aerobridge gate



Sorry, can't remember which gate this was taken at -sure it'll come to me at some point



With only a sole gate, baggage reclaim is similarly simple (IIRC there are two belts only), so our bags turned up very quickly. We were soon landside and were glad to be back in Khon Kaen; we eagerly awaited meeting up with our friends once again and also the culinary delights that the Isaan region of Thailand offers

[flo]

Great to see some pictures of Don Muang again! Wasn't really able to comment to my favourite thread around for a while because the internet connections wouldn't allow me to load this many pictures without the whole internet crashing.

The Emirates lounge looks nice: you flew J ... is there always Champagne available there? This would be really nice because most lounges I have been to (J side) do not offer any bubbly.

[hon2]

Great trip report so far. Ek seems to offer a pretty good C product for such a short flight, and especially for this price.

[whatsthequestionnow]

Congrats on thoroughly entertaining and informative TR. Couldn't stop laughing and somewhat bemused by the strategically placed Ducks.. just spectacular.

[nickbot]

Sights and tastes of Khon Kaen [Part I]

I wouldn't exactly describe Khon Kaen as a tourist destination, we go there to catch up with good friends that I used to work with; saying that, I think tourists are missing out to a degree, as the area offers more of a glimpse of "real" Thailand, not least some excellent and cheap food! Perhaps I'm biased because any place can be judged first rate when one is in the company of friends, but I truly feel that KK has a lot to offer.

Whilst this update is non-flying and non-hotel based, I know of only one other SQTalker who has been to KK, so I wanted to post up some photos -a few of these were taken on a previous trip, as I was less snap happy this time

The day we arrived, my friend and I drove from KK up to Udon Thani (roughly 120 km north) to pick up another of our friends. mrs nickbot stayed at home and slept, whilst I chose to act like a nodding dog in the car, much to the amusement of my friend.

Comemorative archway, leaving KK on (IIRC) the Mitrapap Road (mitrapap=friendship, i.e. friendship between Thailand and the USA during the Vietnam war; built using US funds in exchange for location of airbases on Thai soil)



As we approached Udon, we didn't know where our other friend's hotel was, so I chanced it and fired up my N95's GPS -within moments I'd not only found the hotel, but had their phone number too,...Nokia Maps to the rescue! Anyhow, I'll let the photographs do the talking for a little while...

First meal in KK with friends, on KK University campus



Fish, Isaan style sausage, Tom Yum soup, Som Tam and condiments



Spirit house, in my friend's garden



Wat Nongwang, next to Bung Kaen Nakhon lake



After much climbing, the view from the topmost accessible balcony of the Wat



At the side of the lake, there is a thriving night market with countless food stalls, selling all manner of Thai delicacies, but particularly focussed on Isaan food. Some stalls caught my eye, but didn't make my mouth water...

Fried insects and larvae



Spotted on a park bench –take away snack sized bag of beetles anyone?!?



Poor street elephant (excuse the photograph)



More to follow in a short while...

[nickbot]

Sights and tastes of Khon Kaen [Part II]

Previously, we have stayed at the Sofitel Raja Orchid hotel, which is basically the nicest hotel in Khon Kaen; rates are extremely reasonable and I can certainly recommend it. On this occasion however, our friend had just moved into a new house, so we were able to stay with him. We visited the Sofitel in order to use their pool (500 THB per person per day) on a couple of occasions, and also used the pool at the Kosa hotel (cheaper at 200 THB pppd, but not as nice!)

mrs nickbot, relaxing in the Sofitel pool



Kosa hotel, with view of the Sofitel



Portrait of King Bhumibol in Kosa hotel reception



Unfinished high rise opposite the Kosa -bit of an eyesore! (building apprently stopped at the start of the economic downturn)



Main market in Khon Kaen



Barbequed chicken shop



Isaan style sausages and meat (like jerkey) drying in the sun



Lakeside hut on freshwater dam just north of the city



Yet more food, accompanied by Prik Nam Pla sauce mmmmm!



Unfortunately, whilst I might enjoy spicy Isaan food at the time of consumption, it doesn't really agree with me in the slightest This results in a trade-off, involving relatively frequent toilet visits! Unfortunately, in many of the food establishments in Thailand the lavatories leave a lot to be desired -as I like to tell it how it is, I think you know what's coming next

Mmmm, lovely,...but most certainly not the worst I've encountered!

[nickbot]

Sights and tastes of Khon Kaen [Part III]

Okay, a few more food and sightseeing photos will wrap up my brief introduction to Khon Kaen

Not the last satay we'd be eating on this trip



Pork intestine salad -chewy but delicious



Ant larvae soup/salad,...might give that one a miss!



Tom Kaa soup, Penang curry plus a.n.other that I forget



On our last evening, our friends took us to a temple in the city which, if my memory serves correctly, was built to give thanks to the spirits that occupy the land that Khon Kaen is built upon. We all gave a few gifts here (lamp oil, flowers and gold leaf), and in return you ask the spirits for something (it might not happen if I repeat here what I asked for, so I won't jinx it!)

Recently completed temple, not far from the Sofitel



Elephant and statue, heavily laden with gold leaf



Colourful dragon, guarding the temple



mrs nickbot, whilst reading this over my shoulder, has just commented that all I was saying whilst we were at the temple was:

"ohh my stomach hurts,....ooh my stomach hurts,...we need to go,...we need to go,...is there a toilet near here?,...ooooooh my stomach hurts!

...aah, the sacrifices I make in the name of sampling culinary delights for the reading pleasures of all you SQTalkers out there

The next morning, we were at the airport early in order to catch our flight back to Bangkok (and from there onto Phuket) -we were booked on the first flight of the day, which is the turnaround of the first flight out of DMK that we had caught a few days earlier. Sad farewells were said to our friends, but we shall certainly return to Khon Kaen next time we visit Thailand (making sure we bring a truckload of Immodium for me!)

Amazing what you can buy in the duty free shop!
(mrs nickbot and I, with our friend's son, who wasn't even born last time we were in KK)

[nickbot]

Posts 219, 220 and 221 updated

[planemad]

Unfortunately, whilst I might enjoy spicy Isaan food at the time of consumption, it doesn't really agree with me in the slightest This results in a trade-off, involving relatively frequent toilet visits! Unfortunately, in many of the food establishments in Thailand the lavatories leave a lot to be desired -as I like to tell it how it is, I think you know what's coming next

Arrrrhhhggh, did you really have to post a pic of that sub-zero class loo! Yucks, in fact double yucks!

Khon Kaen is a bit off the usual tourist trail. Its smack in the middle of northeastern Thailand I believe. Must be a real eye opener and vastly different from Bangkok.

[nickbot]

Arrrrhhhggh, did you really have to post a pic of that sub-zero class loo! Yucks, in fact double yucks!

I like to show what other guidebooks balk at

Khon Kaen is a bit off the usual tourist trail. Its smack in the middle of northeastern Thailand I believe. Must be a real eye opener and vastly different from Bangkok.

Correct on both counts