We were picked up at 10.30 by a driver in a very smart Merc, who drove like the wind, arriving at the airport in 20 minutes instead of the 50 minutes it had taken the other way when traffic had been hideous.
Unfortunately check-in wasn’t open, in fact we weren’t even sure where it was meant to be since another airline was still using it, so we waited a while and after about half an hour it opened and we were seen to very quickly. We had hoped to change our seats for the second leg as we were in the middle two, but the flight was rammed and there was no chance. As it happened, the two seats in the middle were right together and very private for a couple, though would be uncomfortably close for strangers. Anyway, we went through security easily enough and then things went wrong.
We popped into a couple of shops to get a few things and went to find the Thai lounge which is what Etihad use at BKK. No-one seemed to know where it was – at least they all claimed to know, but the directions didn’t seem to get us there. So we walked and walked and walked and walked the whole length of the airport – TWICE – before finally finding it. Stupidly I had worn flip-flops and my feet were so sore, but it was hot and I couldn’t bear the thought of putting trainers on for the first time in 2 ½ weeks. We handed over our passes only for the Thai lady on the desk to tell us we were at the wrong lounge – Oh I could have cried. Anyway, at this point I was very grumpy and I think my husband thought I was ready to divorce him so we decided to have a drink and something to eat before making the lengthy walk back the whole length of the airport again. Unfortunately they had very little to eat, just a couple of tired sandwiches and some cold pizza but needs must so we ate what we could and then thinking perhaps the other lounge would be better walked and walked etc etc until we got there. BIG mistake as this lounge was seriously bad. It was dirty and badly stained, although the toilets were clean, and there didn’t appear to be anything to eat at all!
By this stage we were both very tired so we sat and dozed until our flight appeared on the screen a little while before the scheduled departure time of 2.30am and we made our weary way there. Never have I been so glad to get on board to a lovely clean aircraft and a comfy seat. We had A and C seats one behind each other which were well placed and we were happy. Neither of us wanted a pre departure drink, nor a meal so as soon as the seat belt signs were off, we converted the seats and went to sleep until just before arrival. We accepted juice and husband had a coffee and then arrived at Abu Dhabi to another L O N G walk to the terminal.
Gill
