My adventures in Bangkok

Text and Pix by M.Mahasenan

I landed in Bangkok with a head full of imagination.

Friends had told me Bangkok was a living Bohemia. A place where women "just out of the blue come and hug you and kiss you."

A place where you can "just pick them up , like picking up your lunch packet, and have a 'good time'. I was thrilled. And I was slightly shivering beneath my knees. Could that be true?

It is. Somebody asserted.

"Don't come back to Colombo without 'doing anything'. Show your colours. Prove the pride of mankind."

"Do it on my behalf," another one requested. Friends, people and whatshisname all wished me "all the best" on my departure. What would happen?

With the huge responsibility of defending the pride of Sri Lankan men and my friends on my shoulders, I boarded a A-330 early morning flight to Thailand. My plane took off around 2 in the morning.

And I forgot all the requests and wishes and whatnot and immersed myself in a fantasy land through the airline's onboard entertainment as Sri Lankan lights, flickering like a thousand fireflies slowly vanished some 20,000 ft below.

Sunrise from 41,000 ft.

Suddenly I realised I was heading east and would be still airborne during the sunrise. On the back of my visiting card I wrote:

Dear Captain,

I presume we are heading east and will still be airborne during the sunrise. I wonder whether I can see the sunrise from the cockpit?

Signed

I called a hostess and asked her to pass it on to the Captain. There was no reply.

There was no vegetarian meal available on board. I had some fruit juice and went to sleep.

Around 4.45 am a soft voice woke me up. "Sir, the captain wants you in the cockpit," the air hostess said in English with a strong Mandarin accent.

I panicked. Camera. Camera. Where is my camera? Action. All stations on red alert. My camera was missing. Oh bloody hell. It was in my bag. Only the film roll was in my pocket.

Like a sleep walker I followed the sweet thing.

"Hello, there you are." The Captain welcomed me, munching cadju. There was a plate of roasted cadju placed next to him.

"It's just starting. It will come up pretty quick," he said.

I couldn't believe my eyes. "I am in the cockpit of a commercial liner."

After the formalities the Captain offered me a jump-seat located behind the pilots' seats.

I thought: "I must play it safe, otherwise they might think I am a hijacker."

I folded my arms and sat perfectly motionless, wearing my best innocent look on my face. Outside the cockpit window I saw a slight orange tinge in the horizon. It was a bit cloudy.

"You are not that fortunate, it's a bit cloudy today," the Captain said.

Altimeter said 41,000. Outside temperature -61! Brrrrr. It was pindrop silence in the cabin.

"Can you please put this in that pocket?," the co-pilot gave me a big book like thing.

I dutifully put it in the side-pocket, located behind his seat. A small help for the co-pilot. A big adventure for me. I checked again. It was there, safely in the pocket. The pocket in the cockpit. The cockpit of an A-330 flown by wire machine. What a fortunate book!

As time passed the orange tinge turned into Benson and Hedges gold. It was gold all over. Gold. Gold Gold. Gold everywhere.

We were flying above a golden bed of clouds. And suddenly it was there. The sun! I returned to the seat.

The touch-down

From the time of touch-down till the take off at Bangkok International Airport it was one hectic run. Bangkok is a sprawling big city full of flyovers and skyscrapers. Mind-boggling. A city that never sleeps. Rows and rows of roadside eateries. The smell of Thai fast food pervades the roads. These meal vendors are everywhere. So are the eaters.

What did I do in Bangkok? That I can't tell you in public my dear reader. Perhaps next week.

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