Post 201: Just When You Thought It Was Over ....

I'd eventually found a humble dwelling in which to rest my weary bones and retrieved my single suitcase of possessions, it was now time to concentrate on the Tiger. A plan of sorts was beginning to form, ... 'A Plan' in the true nature of Poor Circulation; half-baked, half-arsed and under-funded, .... but apart form that, it was all looking good.

I'd drop the Tiger off at Jack Lilley Triumph for a jolly good service and a long soak in a bath of snake-oil that would hopefully put an end to it's now insatiable appetite for the fully-synthetic variety. In the meantime, I'd be off on a little fact-finding adventure of my own. Perfect timing really, ..... Heathrow was only five miles down the road and the Tiger would have free B&B for the week that I'd be away.

The snow of Sunday had cleared, the Tiger behaved impeccably all of the way down to Ashford Common and Jack Lilley were expecting me. I dropped the bike off, provisionally agreed to attend their Christmas Party on Thursday 11th December and then made the five miles to Heathrow in plenty of time for my flight. I was using my expertly, yet indirectly blagged 'Economy Class Ticket' with a not so famous Airline, but there was sadly no 'upgrade' to Business Class, ....... beggars can't really be choosers all of the time. The flight departed on-time, I had a row of four seats all to myself, two decent meals and absolutely no turbulence.

The plane touched down on time in the Middle East and I had ninety minutes to wait in 'Transit' for my onwards flight. To this point in time, ... everything had gone perfectly smoothly, in fact it was all going far too smoothly for anything even remotely related to Poor Circulation, ..... my world was about to go horribly pear-shaped. Speaking a little Arabic is sometimes a blessing, sometimes a curse. Amongst my European neighbours in the Transit Lounge, I was possibly the first to hear the news. 'Mushcular' is the Arabic word for 'Problem', and when heard in close proximity with the name of your destination and flight number, you just know it's not going to be good news. We waited for a full five minutes before the English announcement confirmed my initial fears; Due to unforeseen problems, Flight EY402 to Bangkok had been cancelled, ....... there was no additional information.

Five hours after that announcement was made, I now know the reason for the cancellation of Flight EY402. As I type this, my fellow transit passengers are making alternate arrangements for their onwards travel, ... but I'm not. I'm sitting alone in a dimly lit but crowded corridor of far-flung strangers and using the only electrical connection that I can find in this entire airport. I've decided to sit it out, to take my chances, ..... to wait for the next available flight. If the cancellation had been due to 'Weather' or even 'Technical Failure' then it would be quite easy to put a 'time' on the potential length of wait, ...... but it's not. I'm sitting in Abu Dhabi International Airport, It's 1:32am and I'm travelling to Bangkok. Unfortunately, twenty-three minutes before my connecting flight was due to depart, ..... both of Bangkok's Airports were officially closed.

Recent unrest in Bangkok has esculated and with an increase in the levels of violence and gunfire around the airports, ..... both have now been closed for security reasons. The latest news is that the airports will re-open in about three days time, .... Inshallah. Bangkok is not my final destination, .... but I need to use both airports in that fine city, ... the re-opening of just one will not be enough. I've explored the alternative routes, ... but they cost money, lots of money ... but sleeping in airport corridors costs me nothing, which is exactly what I've got, ...... so I'll keep you posted.

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