On to Yangon

Events of Thursday 14th February 2013

 I managed about three hours good sleep at the Novotel Bangkok and decided I might as well start getting ready. My computer found the hotel’s Wi-Fi system but I declined to pay the 150 Baht for one hour asked for. Back in the lobby, there was a large restaurant with a wide range of foods set up buffet style. There were quite a few diners, but no sign of any staff. I had a very simple breakfast and, whilst examining the items on offer, spotted a single member of hotel staff in a darkened corner apparently doing paperwork. Most curious. Checkout was very quick because my booking had been prepaid. Outside the hotel I was directed to one of the hotel’s Shuttle Buses. After a short time, another five people joined the bus and we were taken to the airport.

I’d been issued with my boarding pass for the TG303 from Bangkok to Yangon on departure from Perth, so it only remained for me to pass through security and immigration and wait. I'm not good at waiting but, eventually, boarding time arrived and we made our way to another 'Airbus' A330 for the short flight to Yangon.

The A330 which took me from Bangkok to Yangon.

On arrival at Yangon, immigration was quite fast, my case arrived and customs formalities comprised surrendering a filled-out customs form and having the big bag (but not hand luggage) X-rayed. I found the young lady from Sun Bird easily and she summoned the car. Then, it slightly unravelled as it took us 90 minutes to get to the city. They assumed the congestion was caused by the building of a flyover to reduce the congestion. In the lobby of the Park Royal Hotel, I was given all the paperwork for the next few days. The hotel regretted than my room would not be available for another hour. A pity but, even after our increased journey time, it was only 10.30 in the morning so I was not surprised. I left all my luggage with the hotel and, armed with a (traditional Burmese) bag and a camera, set off for Yangon Central Station.

The station was only about ten minutes walk from the hotel and I was familiar with the process for obtaining a one-dollar 'Foreigner Ticket'. There was one adventurous lady from New Jersey also travelling on the train. She was going to Insein to check-out the famous market. I'd decided to go five stations further, to see the junction station at Da Nyn Gone and the return by the same route to Yangon. So that's what I did. It turned out that the actual station at Da Nyn Gone had some fame as a low-price market for fresh foods and the station remained permanently busy with people coming and going and buying and selling.

The impromptu market on Da Nyn Gone station.

By the time I'd travelled back to Yangon Central station by train and walked to my hotel, I was hot and tired and glad to be able to relax in a decent room at the Park Royal Hotel. I was delighted to find that the internet was reliable and fast.

My room at the Park Royal Hotel.

In the evening, I had a simple early dinner in the restaurant, which was specially decorated for Valentine's Day. As I left the restaurant after my meal, I saw that lots of young couples had arrived for a 'special dinner'.

My pictures

Novotel, Bangkok Airport.
The Circle Line (2013).
Park Royal Hotel, Yangon

[Revised 5-Mar-2013]

Perth to Bangkok

Events of Wednesday 13th February 2013

The day started with the usual walk to the Dog Walking Area where the dogs of Williton (and their people) get together before the day gets insufferably hot. Although I’m usually fairly tolerant of heat, temperatures in the low forties Celsius were beginning to take their toll on me so most of the morning I was happy to alternate between trying to get packed and just sitting around.

Keith demonstrated his new ‘Tinkerbell’ locomotive operating on air. Keith’s modified design has a particularly neat arrangement of the Heywood motion.


'Tinkerbell' being operated on compressed air.

He also fetched out an ‘Oscillating Cylinder’ engine he built many years ago and demonstrated how powerful that can be when properly engineered. Keith had always been impressed with the simplicity of the ‘Oscillating Cylinder’ engine, where the piston rod is connected directly to the crank, causing the whole cylinder to swing to and fro. This movement is used to open and close the appropriate ports without the necessity for valve motion. There's a brief post on the oscillating cylinder engine here.


Keith's demonstration 'Oscillating Cylinder' engine.

On Keith’s last visit to England, we were able to look at Peak Rail’s turntable at Rowsley. This is powered by an Oscillating Engine operating on vacuum from the locomotive’s braking system and, through suitable reduction gearing, can effortlessly turn the largest locomotive.

Keith had offered to drive me to Perth Airport for the next leg of my journey – by Thai to Bangkok taking about seven hours. Whilst waiting for departure, I was able to upload to ‘Flickr’ a few of the large backlog of photographs I’d amassed. Shortly after take-off, we passed over Fremantle and I spotted 'Silver Whisper', which I'd watched arriving the day before (see post), leaving the port.


Fremantle Port, with 'Silver Whisper' departing.

I managed some sleep during the flight and was through Immigration at Bangkok around midnight. I’d been booked into the ‘Novotel’ at the airport since I’d an early start on the next day. I wouldn’t normally stay at an airport hotel but the timings of my connections made it the best chance to get some sleep in a ‘real’ bed. I managed to find the Pick-up Point for the hotel’s shuttle bus and was quickly transferred to the hotel. They located my booking and I was soon in the lift going up to the fifth floor. I found my well-appointed room and quickly prepared for bed. The bedrooms were in four blocks forming a square where the covered ‘courtyard’ in the middle formed an impressive hotel lobby. Half the rooms (including mine) overlooked this ‘courtyard’, the other half face outward. The Novotel at Bangkok claims to be “the fifth most popular airport hotel in the world” but it all seemed too impersonal for my taste.


View of the Atrium from my bedroom at the Novotel, Bangkok Airport.

My pictures

Williton Dog Walking Area.
Keith Watson, Engineer.
Perth Airport, Western Australia.
Novotel, Bangkok Airport.

[Revised 5-Mar-2013: Link to 'The Oscillating Cylinder Engine' added 25-Oct-2015]