bangkok goodbyes

saying goodbye, farewell, adieu isn't our strongest point. you would think that after all our relocations we would be used to dealing with leaving. well, the moving part we've got under control. packing and moving have become my middle names. everything is in boxes and suitcases. come to think of it, we can now honestly say that really everything we own is in boxes. some are in bangkok, some in lhasa and some in belgium.

dealing with our last days in the city of angels isn’t going as well as the packing. we keep saying ‘the last time we eat here’ or ‘better enjoy the view because it’s one of the last times you can see it’. so a lot of last’s at the moment. and tomorrow is steven’s last day at work. the last time he’ll take the boat to siriraj hospital, the last time he can drink his cappuccino ‘panne’, the last time he’ll see his talented students and wonderful colleagues. saying goodbye is always tough, especially when you’re leaving behind a life you really, really enjoy.

in a few weeks we can open some of our suitcases and start our new life in lhasa, on the roof of the world. tibet, to us it still sounds as mysterious as it used to be. curious about how our life is going to be we keep googling for stories, images and especially weather forecasts. it’s supposed to be summer there but with a mere 20 degrees celsius we can’t imagine how warm or cold it’s going to be. besides the steady bangkok temperature of 34 degrees celsius would make anyone wonder and worry about colder, unpredictable weather. we even tried on winter jackets (eskimo style) in the famous air-conditioned shopping malls of siam. thai people must think we’re nuts.

but before tibet, there is cambodia. we’ll stay there probably for a week or so, steven following project management and icrc components training and me doing the necessary waiting and paperwork for our chinese visas/tibetan permits. maybe we’ll find some time to visit the beautiful angkor wat in siem reap and enjoy daily life in vibrant phnom penh. our little miu will stay in bangkok, at her favorite boarding address. we will probably pick her up a few hours before we leave for lhasa.