Step 7- Return to Sender

Had a arise at 4:30 am on Monday morning in order to get the 6:20 am flight back to Arlanda/Stockholm. Just managed to make the 5:45 am check in deadline. The hotel had left out a packed breakfast, which while being very decent of them, wasn't necessary as we got a light breakfast on the plane. It was dark and around -9 degrees when we left Kiruna and -5 degrees when we arrived at Arlanda/ Stockholm around 8 am.

The green is the weak northern lights. Regan and Evan looking at them in -9 degrees

What we did notice was the lack of moisture in the air around the far north when compared to say Stockholm or Uppsala (consideringwe were running around in -9 degrees the previous night and didn't notice t until the wind got you.

Anyway on arrival Karla booked into a mini stay hotel at the airport (her flight to Helsinki wasn't until around 4:30 pm. We decided to catch a bus back to Uppsala with Evan and kill a few hours with him. Uppsala was very cold (very heavy frost, Evan said one or two of his friends said there was a little snow on the ground in Uppsala). Spent about 1 and a quarter hours in Uppsala, then said a rather sad farewell to Evan (not sure when we will see him again as he is arranging to extend his exchange to a full year). Always sad to say goodbye to one of your kids not knowing when you will see them again.

Uppsala again. Near the railway station.

The flight to Bangkok was full. Full of families young and old having a break in Thailand. In flght movies were the same as what were on offer going over to Sweden in early October. Arrived Bangkok around 5am. After clearing immigration and customs we caught a taxi into our hotel -The Shanghai Mansion located in Chinatown. The taxi driver was a rally driver, hitting 140 km/hr, but thankfully traffic was light. Arrived at the hotel around 7 am, check in was 2 pm, but for a little extra (NZ$40) we could have a room until then. We grabbed it, showered and slept until around 12:30 pm, then we moved to our rented room. The Shanghai Mansion is a little oasis in the middle of chaos.

Inside the Shanghai Mansion

Our room

In the afternoon Regan lead a walking tour around Chinatown. The markets were wall-to-wall people with vendors (and their carts), motorbikes (deliverying goods to the market stalls) and one or two pickups. So, the people in the market were like a river, running slow at times, then when congested ran fast. Every stall was selling almost the same stock as the one next door, but it was fun.

The traffic is chaotic. A mixture of cars, truck, buses, motor cyclists and tuktuks. Crossing the road is an expedition but dangerous. Mind you from my observations the cars etc gave way tp those pedestrians who were prepared to take the risk.

Go - the lights had just turned green

Tonight Regan is leading a food tour of the Chinatown district. Should be fun.

Should mention today was sunny and hot. Great, after the cold of Sweden. This place is chaotic to say the least so feel the more ordered Sweden was a better place to walk around.

Roundabout in Chinatown