Bhutan at the speed of baby – Day 1

We left Laos at 7am today and by 11 we were walking alongside a road in Thailand, sweating. The lady at the hotel had said the nearest restaurant was just a ten-minute walk away, but we were twenty minutes into trudging and there was still no food in sight.

“How are you feeling?” Daddy asked Mama.

Mama sighed.

“I’m trying to be a good sport about all of this, but I’m not entirely succeeding,” she said.

I’m not quite sure what she meant by “all of this”. She could have been referring to the two days of travel just to get to Bhutan or the hassle of packing (she says packing with a baby in mind takes three times as long, which makes no sense at all given I’m 1/10^th her size). Maybe she was grumpy because we’d pitched up at our airport hotel to find that it was noisy, dusty, and under construction. Maybe she was talking about the fact that they’d forgotten to bring my stroller, which is just fine by me as it means I get to be carried around all week. Whatever she meant, however, she was right about that fact that she wasn’t entirely succeeding in being a good sport.

Mama’s got such a gift for understatement. It’s a classy skill that I intend to acquire myself someday when I get tired of collapsing onto the floor and screaming because someone mentioned juice and then didn’t hand me a sippy cup within 1.34 seconds.

We found food, eventually. By then I was in such a heat coma that they let me drink sprite. It was like wet sugary fireworks in my mouth, and I have vowed not to rest until I have adventured in that beverage again.

After that highlight, Daddy headed off to the hospital.

Mama said it was a really tough call, but she’d rather watch me for six hours at the hotel alone than risk two taxi rides with no carseat on Thai freeways and exposing me to a whole bunch of germ-carriers in the hospital waiting rooms.

Not sure that’s entirely logical, because until today I didn’t know there was another place to go to in Thailand other than a hospital – it’s all we ever seem to do when we come here. I also tried to explain that I like riding around in taxis on freeways with no carseat, but no one seemed to think my vote counted for anything. That’s happening a lot lately, and for the record I’m not a fan.

So Mama and I spent the afternoon together. She described it this way to Daddy when he returned:

“It was great, thanks for asking. I’ve cleaned a whole bunch of poo out of a swim diaper and off the floor. I’ve been weed on. I’ve shared two popsicles and received multiple open-mouthed kisses – the last of which came complete with teeth. Also, three of the goldfish in the foyer narrowly escaped with their lives. Who decided to put goldfish in a see-through coffee table at just the right height for a standing baby to reach into?”

Mama asks the best questions. Who did do that? I’d like to shake their hand. Genius.

Tomorrow we go to airport to fly to Bhutan at 5am. Can’t wait! Love airports. Particularly love screaming in them – great acoustics. Also, airports have escalators. I know, because Dad taught me how to ride them this morning in Bangkok. I got so cross-eyed with excitement I toddled off and walked straight into a square metal pole. It left a big blue bruise on my forehead, but it was totally worth it.

Between thinking about Sprite and airports I’m so excited I doubt I’ll sleep a wink tonight.

Stay tuned for more from Bhutan …