The wait was over. “Lift Off!” Well nearly. I’d woke up early and couldn’t get back to sleep, my mind was over active with anticipation and excitement. My Flight from Heathrow departed late that day. 10.30pm. I’d finished my final preparations by late morning, and with nothing left to do before catching the Train to the Airport, I became restless. I checked and double checked that I’d packed everything, and made certain, again, that I had all the documentation needed for the trip. Time dragged. By Lunchtime I got impatient and decided to go. It was only a two hour Train journey to Heathrow and I would be there way too early, but I would rather be at the Airport waiting there, than sit around at home watching the clock.

My stomach did a little somersault as the gate number came up on the Monitors. I’d been in the Terminal for hours watching the status of the flight intermittently moving nearer to the top of the list, and then, at last, it was there.    ”Go to the Gate.”   I was on the way. I hadn’t been on a long haul flight for a few years, but never gave it a thought as the Aircraft lifted off, and soon after, banked steeply in a one hundred and eighty degree turn, as it headed out over London, following the Thames Estuary towards the European Continent.   As the Aircraft flew over Eastern Europe I tried to get some sleep, but the adrenalin of anticipation made sleep impossible.

      My thoughts on Pattaya momentarily faded as we flew over the Plateau of Tibet. I caught a glimpse of Mount Everest in the far distance, it’s majestic peak rising up out of the clouds, a view I’d seen only in films and on TV, but the magnificence of it in reality was indescribable. It was almost dream like, which prompted the thought that it wasn’t that long ago when I was working on a Building site as a Carpenter, in the wind and rain, the highlight of my week being Darts Night in my local Pub. I sat down and allowed my thoughts of past events, and the circumstances which had bought me to this point in the adventure, to flow in and induce contented sleep.

      It was more than eleven hours of fidgeting and walking about, when the announcement asking us to sit down and fasten our seatbelts in preparation for landing came. Bloody hell! We’re almost there! It wouldn’t be long before I discovered if “Fantasy Island” really did exist. The rickety old 747 hit the runway with a bump, and the engines screamed in reverse thrust for a minute or so. The Plane vibrated and began to slow, the bright Sunlight reflecting off the wings and momentarily blinding me. Looking out of the window I was astonished to see that we had landed on a Golf Course. We hurtled along, past people playing golf, who ignored four hundred tons of Aircraft streaking by just a few of hundred feet away.

       I couldn’t help but grin, as the Pilot turned the plane right, and crossed the Fare-way, heading towards another runway and the Terminal. As we crossed, I could see Golfers waving up at us, waiting for the plane to move out of their way so that they could get on with their game. Terrorism, and the fear of Terrorism, had spread World Wide, but it seemed that the message hadn’t reached Thailand. There were no fences, nor any other restrictions, preventing anyone from wandering on to the runway with a Rocket Launcher concealed in a Golf Bag. “Welcome to Bangkok, Don Muang Airport.”