Jet Airways operated a Boeing 777-300ER (Extended Range) on the Heathrow - Mumbai leg, powered by two huge turbo-fans. Their 'Premiere' class has a layout I've not seen before, a sort of 1-2-1 layout where each seat is an aisle seat. Each seat is angled inwards, facing forward, and has its own 'cubicle' for privacy. The window seats give a fairly limited view out, because of the angling.
The 'cubicle' features a hinging, swing-out video touch screen, which can also be controlled from the usual handset). The telephone part of the handset has a full 'QWERTY' keyboard. Services are 'on demand'. The film choice was not as large as some airlines but I decided to watch the 'Startrek XI' prequel since it had received good reviews. I found it an excellent 'yarn' and the casting of the young crew members was very convincing. The production values are quite different from any other 'Startrek' I've seen but it was very entertaining ("It's Startrek, Jim, but not as we know it."). Leonard Nimoy has a role as the time-travelling elderly Spock.
Back in the 'real world' (if you can regard travelling at six hundred miles an hour in a metal tube five miles above the Earth 'real'), cabin service was excellent and the meal was nicely presented. We were a few miutes late into Mumbai because of air traffic delays on the approach. We disembarked via an air bridge and transit passengers for Hong Kong and Bangkok were called aside whilst the other passengers made their way off the aircraft. Transit passengers were then conducted on the usual long walk through featureless corridors until we arrived at a security station where we were divided into two long queues of transit passengers (men and women separated) to have our hand luggage X-rayed and ourselves metal-detected and hand searched. This took about forty minutes but, once again, the security staff seemed friendly. After a final check of our pre-issued boarding pass for the connecting flight, we were disgorged 'Airside' to find our way to the appropriate gate. Midnight on Sunday local time and the airport was crowded! I stumbled across the Jet Airways business lounge and ducked inside. This was fairly busy too but I grabbed a 'Coke' and found a place to use my notebook computer to write a few words. The flight was soon called and I had only a short walk to Gate 13 for bus transfer to the waiting aircraft. The Mumbai - Bangkok flight was a 737-800. The Boeing 737 twin-engined aircraft has been a ubitquitous workhorse for years. The various later variants (like the -800) are a far cry from the early 737s I saw years ago. A meal was served shortly after take-off but then the cabin was put into 'dark mode' for sleeping for the rest of the four-hour flight. I slept fitfully but this leg rather dragged so I was pleased when we got to Bangkok.
Most of the airport workers at Bangkok were wearing masks against Swine Flu and incoming passengers were being screened by a thermal camera (to look for those with high temperatures). Immigration and baggage reclaim was painless and, once my hand baggage was X-rayed in Customs, I was into the arrivals hall. After a few minutes, I found my young lady guide, correctly guessing that the sign saying 'JANW FORD' meant me. We joined the car and driver and set off for the city. Around 7.00 a.m. on a Monday morning is not a good time to take the toll road into Bangkok and it was well over an hour before we arrived at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. I'd expected a Garden Wing room but was told that this had closed for refurbishment a couple of weeks ago so I was on the seventh floor of the River Wing with good views of the Chao Phraya River.
There was time for a quick shower and a change before meeting the guide again for a tour of Wat Pho (sometimes spelled 'Wat Po') and the Grand Palace. Although I've been to Thailand many times (initially, in connection with my work, then for pleasure) somehow I'd never been to either location. I won't bore you with details of my visit ('that makes a change' I hear you say) but I've put links to a couple of websites:
Wat Pho.
Grand Palace and other Thai Palaces.
My pictures of Bangkok (taken on various visits) are here.
My pictures of Wat Pho are here.
By this time, I was getting pretty tired but the guide still wanted to call at 'Gems Gallery' which bills itself as "The World's Biggest Jewelry Store" (sorry about the American spelling which is endemic in Thailand - thinking about it, more-or-less endemic everywhere). I realised I'd been before and it certainly is a very professional operation. Tourism might be down in Thailand, but this place was heaving with visitors.
By the time I was dropped off at the Oriental, I was pretty tired so I 'crashed out' on the bed for a couple of hours. I'd an invitation to a cocktail party in the Author's Wing where I met the general manager, had a couple of orange juice and then went for dinner outside on the terrace watching the river traffic. Regular readers will not be surprised to hear I had 'fish and chips'. Presentation was not quite what we're used to but the taste was excellent.
Part of the hotel is on the opposite bank of the river and two free hotel ferry boats ply between the two halves of the hotel and a couple of other locations on demand. I couldn't resist a trip to the other shore but after a short walk round the facilities (restaurant, spa, healthclub, cookery school and more) it was back to my room to finish this post.
My archive of pictures at the Oriental are here.
For more on the hotel try the Oriental Website.
