Doctor Hla Tun insisted that on Tuesday morning we would travel together to Mandalay Airport in the Monastery car where he would take a flight to Yangon, I would start my long journey home via Bangkok and the two Monastery drivers would return by road to Bagan. To fortify myself for the journey, I made sure of a decent breakfast - fried eggs, beans, roll and butter, yoghurt, orange juice and tea.
Mandalay, 2019: Breakfast at the Hilton Hotel.
Then, whilst savouring the view of Mandalay Hill, the Royal Palace moat and walls from my room, I completed my packing.
Mandalay, 2019: View from my room at the Hilton Hotel.
At the arranged time, Doctor Hla Tun picked up me and my luggage in the Monastery car (already loaded with two lorry tyres purchased in Mandalay required for the Monastery's water tanker which delivers water to various villages around Bagan). On arrival at the airport, there were hasty 'goodbyes' as the Doctor had little time to check in for his domestic flight. I had plenty of time to check-in, mooch around the international terminal and watch the various comings and goings.
Mandalay International Airport: Terminal Layout.
I watched with interest as the Bangkok Air flight arrived, discharged its passengers, their baggage and air freight and loaded baggage and air freight for my flight - PG710 departing at 14:05 on the 2 hour, 1020km flight to Bangkok.
Mandalay Airport: Bangkok Air arrival passing in front of two of the turboprops which provide internal services in Myanmar.
Mandalay Airport: Bangkok Air flight discharging and loading baggage.
A pleasant flight took me to Suvarnabhumi Airport, Bangkok where I knew there would be a fair walk to complete the transfer to my Qatar Airways flight to Doha.
Bangkok Airport.
I'd not been with Qatar via Bangkok before, so I made sure I checked-out the relaxing Qatar Lounge before joining flight QR833, leaving at 20:40. Doha was reached seven hours later, after a 5280km flight.
Qatar Airways Lounge in Bangkok Airport.
Like Dubai Airport, Hamad International Airport in Doha is a major transit hub. The Business Lounge is an excellent place to relax between flights
Part of the tranquil restaurant area in the Business Lounge, Hamad International Airport, Doha.
My final flight QR035 left at 01:50 local time for the seven hour, 5358 km leg to Birmingham.
Arriving Birmingham Wednesday, 22nd May 2019
I slept for part of the journey and, as we neared our destination, was woken by a beautifully-presented simple breakfast, exactly as ordered. I was particularly taken with the imitation 'candle' decorative table lamp - actually electric but with a 'flicker' effect.
Breakfast in the Clouds: Returning to Birmingham by Qatar Airways.
And so I felt surprisingly refreshed when we landed after the marathon 11658 km, 7243 mile journey from Mandalay at the end of another amazing trip to Myanmar!
Related posts on this website
This is one of a series of posts describing my 14th visit to Myanmar. The post Return to Burma is the first post in the series.
Clicking on the 'Next report' link (where shown) displays the post describing the next events. In this way, you may read about the trip in sequence.
Alternately, clicking on the 'All my Burma 2019 reports' link displays all the posts on this trip in reverse date-of-posting order.
All my Burma 2019 reports.
This is the last post describing this trip.
My pictures
All my general pictures on this trip are in the collection of albums Burma 2019
