However the relief I felt when we landed at the prospect of being able to climb out of the winged torture machine aka the plane was short lived as I teetered out of it directly into the airport terminal and simultaneously into the hot humidity of Thailand – the huge airport here doesn’t seem to be air-conditioned at all (or if this is air-conditioning, I don’t even want to think what Outside must feel like). The heat, which made my headache and nausea worse, would have been bad enough in normal circumstances, but in this case I was wearing or carrying my bulkiest clothes and big heavy hiking boots in order to save precious space and weight in my checked luggage, so altogether I was almost left wondering whether it would have been preferable to stay on the pleasantly cool Flying Tube of Nausea instead of walking through what felt like the doorway to hell if not hell itself.
However the disembarkation was soon justified as I found a pharmacy nearby, where I laid my hands on some Nurofen (the best remedy for this kind of headache). Hoping against hope, I went looking for a jar of tiger balm, which together with the Nurofen would be almost certain to manage the headache business (why didn’t I have these two essentials on me? I’ve had such a good, headache-free run lately that I’d packed these necessaries in my checked baggage rather than my carry-on). And yes, it had to be tiger balm, as nothing else I’ve tried comes close to the kind of muscle-relaxing heat it generates. However I needn’t have worried – the first thing I saw when I went looking for it was not the paltry single jar of the magic stuff that I’d been crossing my fingers that I would find, tucked away in some dusty corner, but a whole wall of it, hundreds of beautiful jars worth – including varieties I’ve never seen in Australia. They even had gift packs of it at the pharmacy, and when I later did the traditional aimless, time-wasting walk through duty free I noticed that most of the shops also had extensive collections of it on offer as well – I hadn’t realised that it is actually made here in Thailand, what luck!
A cornucopia of tiger balms
I’m always surprised by how much a bad headache and nausea can weaken me – I can stand a fair amount of sleep deprivation, hunger, heat, stress, extreme physical exertion and similar challenges, but these two ills can have me figuratively (and sometimes literally) on my knees very quickly when I can’t manage them. An hour after leaving the plane, with the tiger balm soothing my gnarly muscles, the Nurofen sending its gentle fingers through my system, and observing the drastic change in my mood which a little pain management could have, I found myself thinking about the medical marijuana debate; I wonder if those who argue against it realise what a huge difference there is between big pain and relief, even if the relief is not permanent, but just something you know you can tap into for a break when you can’t take the pain any more. Given the impact a little headache and sickness can have on me, I can only imagine what desperation chronic or severe pain sufferers must feel when they know there’s a chance that something might give them that relief but law and policymakers refuse to sanction it ... but that’s a conversation for another day.
Feeling more like myself, the hours I’ve spent in the Kingdom of Thailand since these adventures in pharmacology have been spent dully but painlessly in wandering up and down the airport (I’ve been trying to get a photo which will give you some idea of how vast this place is, but I haven’t had any luck yet) and trying to get the wretched WiFi to work (it’s one of those WiFis that are free in the sense that they don’t need you to pay money for them, you simply need to sacrifice your personal information - which irks me far more than an honest cash exchange would).
I rounded out the evening, and my rumbling tummy, with a fresh, salty, sweet, fishy, limey, peanutty and altogether delicious pad thai at one of the restaurants here at the airport, this seeming the most appropriate choice for an evening spent in Thailand.
Only three more hours until my next flight leaves. Back to transit stasis. See you all in Switzerland!
* I’ve decided to strike a balance between narrative flow and privacy by referring to people by their initials rather than using their names or referring to them in a more obtuse manner (for example, referring to “one of my colleagues”, which I think makes for a very confusing narrative). Plus this way you all have an added incentive to read to see if you get namechecked (well, initialchecked, anyway). (Hehehe