28.6.24
When we booked this trip in October 23 it was because we felt after 13 years of living in Türkiye, it could be time for a new adventure, while we’re still young and fit enough. 3 different people have spoken about a particular area of Thailand, Hua Hin which is supposed to be perfect for relocating.
We’re happy to be guinea pigs to see if it would be right for us.
Between booking and now there have been so many rule changes in Türkiye, sadly none for the better for expats.
Residencies are almost impossible to get now, and many of those with existing residencies will have to reapply every 6 months, or longer if they fit other criteria, for example in receipt of a Government pension.
In addition, absent property owners won’t be able to have family or friends staying in their places unless they’re first degree relatives. This has to be proven with apostilised documents.
Consequently many people are fed up, selling up, and going back to the UK or elsewhere.
We have long term residency so we’re not affected, but the demise of people who are is contagious and we want a plan B, as we’re not sure of the reasoning behind it all. It’s very unsettling.
Enough of all that.
Let the adventure begin.
We dropped our dogs to a highly recommended pet carer last night. They’ve only met her once before, briefly, but went running up to her, tails wagging.
We only got a token goodbye, they were too busy sussing everything out.
Honey started to be a little incontinent a few days ago, I felt awful putting it on this lovely young lady, but she has a dog of her own that has to wear nappies sometimes. Thank goodness she wasn’t fazed by it, or about giving her B12 mouth spray, or wiping her gunky eyes. Poor Honeydog, so sad seeing her aging.
Maisy just needs as much food as she can get and lots of cuddles. Bit like me really.
A few weeks ago our friend Teresa was off to Australia. She received a message saying her Turkish Airlines flight Dalaman to Istanbul was 30 minutes late, due to Force Majeur. Then a further hour, then cancelled. That was the end of her trip to Australia.
On our way to Dalaman airport today we received this!
Fortunately it was only the one message and by 12.40pm we were off to Istanbul.
Yesterday I was moaning that my new cough medication gives me constipation. Today I’m celebrating not needing a nervous poo. Too much info, yes probably. But it’s remarkable as I’ve dedicated my whole life to the nervous poo.
I glanced out the window and saw a stunning overhead view of Olu Deniz, but didn’t capture it in time, but got these from Kayakoy to Fethiye instead.
Türkiye is so stunning, a love story that began on holiday in 1995 . Could I actually bear to leave it?
The obligatory Turkish Airlines soft cheese and pesto roll arrived, it had been microwaved to within an inch of its life, but was a good distraction.
We were now due to land at Istanbul at 2pm. That’s fine, our Thai Airways flight is at 4.30pm.
We were descending at Istanbul then suddenly the pilot ramped up the power and instead of hitting another plane on the runway we took off again and it felt like we went miles before turning for our 2nd attempt.
I was convinced I saw Bulgaria.
In my head all was well as long as we got into the terminal by 3pm. Don’t panic. My goodness these tablets are good.
John panicked enough for both of us and a poor woman across the aisle was sick. Fear or a pesto allergy? Either way it was obviously going to be green.
We landed at 2.30pm.
Istanbul airport is just massive, we taxied forever to park and got onto a bus and barged our way into the terminal at 2.50pm.
No problem. Apart from all the passengers who were dawdling around trying to kill the recommended 3 hours. I lost John at one point, thank goodness he carries that awful yellow rucksack.
The Thai Airways desk staff were so laid back and were faffing quite a bit and I picked up that there was some sort of problem.
It turned out that we were the last 2 passengers, so did we mind having seats that didn’t have in flight entertainment?
I told them I was happy to sit on the wing if it made it easier. So we accepted those seats and charged through passport control and security and got to Gate D9 at 3.45pm. Boarding began at 3.50pm. Just enough time to smile at the lovely Cafe Nero lady who put hot water in my flask so I could make a coffee. Sometimes all you need is caffeine, and Amytriptolene.
Just before we boarded Johns seat number was changed. I still had a blank wall in front of me, lots of legroom but no tray table and everything had to go up in the bins. Never mind.
A few minutes later they moved me to another seat while passengers glared at me. I’m now one row diagonally from John.
We were offered other seats together, but didn’t want to risk any more filthy looks.
It was quite chaotic, but we we were on, we made it. The flight time is 8 hours 45 minutes. Good result as I thought it was 10 hours.
Sit back, relax. Looking forward to our inflight meals. Starvation has set in.
I began to read the Thursday Murder Club, then they dimmed the lights. So instead I had to drool over my downloads of the lovely Parisian Agency guys.
Sleep would have been nice, but I woke up everytime my head fell forwards and only dozed.
Our next meal was breakfast at 1am. Picking bits of crunchy green pepper out of an omelette is no mean task, especially as the fork was bigger than the dish. I also had to make sure the chopped tomato wasn’t touching the omelette. I never see anyone else having these issues, what is wrong with me?
We landed at 2am, 6am Thai time. Waited for a long while for our cases, got a Thai sim, 15 days 32gb 599 baht.
Then down to Level 1, gate 8, we got the last 2 bus tickets for the 7.30am to Hua Hin.
I’m on my own right at the back by the toilet. It’s a little bit stinky, but nothing I can’t cope with.
It’s grey and rainy, but we don’t care.
Time to see if I can recline my seat and have a snooze.
£1 =46 THB, 41 TL
