20/10/11
0455 is NOT a time to get up when you are on holiday, but we had to be at the bus station for 0530 to make sure we get tickets and it was a 15 minute walk away from our room.
Seats secured, phew! And the bus looks very new, tv's, aircon and the loudest Thai stereo in the world which makes me wonder if I will last the trip!
I'm not a parent, but even I know that, if your child is sick 30minutes into the journey the one thing you don't do is buy them 3 large bags of crisps at the next stop, this journey, I fear, will end in tears for a lot of people on board!
5 hours in and I've now got my headphones in to try and drown out the screeching from the radio, somehow, through all the noise Becky is catching some sleep. How I envy her ability to do that!
Oh look, the child is sick again, lovely!
7 very long hours later and we roll into Chang Mai bus station. All in all the journey was not to bad, the seats were comfortable and reclined so you could rest and the leg room was ok, so I didn't feel too bad.
We grabbed a tuk tuk (80 Bhat) and asked to be taken to the first hostel we wanted to try, the Libra Guesthouse. The breeze from the open back was very welcome as the temperature here was pushing 90f and the cloud cover was making it feel hotter, but at least our luck had returned and Libra had a room for us. We went for one with a fan and hot water ( even in this heat Bex likes hot showers, weird!) this was 350 Bhat and this seems to be the standard price for a room like this.
A quick shower to freshen up and a quick play on the Internet to secure our flight out of Bangkok to Koh Samui and we were ready to hit the town. Becky has been here before, so I was keen just to look around, unfortunately the Thai boxing matches were only on a Wednesday and Friday while we were here, so this being Thursday we missed out here, but hoped to catch one tomorrow night in Bangkok. Any doubts I had about spending just one night here were soon quashed when we stumbled upon McDonalds, Starbucks, Boots the chemist and a Tesco, this was followed by Becky saying that they weren't here 3 years ago. On the same vien, a lot more western style pubs had sprung up since and the ones we passed were full of Brits and Aussies watching a football match, yep, 24hrs was enough for me!
21/10/11
I'm slowly getting used to these early morning transfers and finding a tuk tuk to the airport made it a little more interesting. The sun was already shining and the breeze through the open back was very welcome, the only downside was the fact the 100% deet mozzie spray had started to eat through the lenses of my oakleys, so I'm squinting into the sun. It only took us 15 minutes from arrival to get the bags checked in and be waiting in departures, quite possibly the quickest turn around I've ever had, so that's a tick in the box for Chang Mai Airport. Another tick goes to Thai Airlines, not only were they the cheapest but the leg room rivals that of virgin! The flight was only 50 mins so I couldn't comment on the food quality, but the snack provided was very nice.
The rambutti village in Bangkok had already replied saying there was no need to book so we got a taxi from Bangkok airport. Here's a new thing, in Bangkok you have to pay all road and bridge tolls, so for us that was 70 Bhat straight away, then there is the 50 Baht surcharge for the airport and finally the meter fee, so in total the journey to the hotel cost us 410 Bhat (i have to remind myself it's 50 Bhat to the pound). All booked in to what I can say is a typical backpackers hostel, reenforced by the 1000 Bhat security deposit ( refundable on checkout) and the sign on the back of the room door about prostitutes and no one with diseases allowed to stay! But the room was clean and tidy, the bathroom was the same so I have no complaints. Our next job was to get our visas extended for another 7 days ( remember the border entry part?) so armed with our rough guide map we tried the first tuk tuk. He refused to take us saying it's very far, now I'm confused? I'm looking at the map and it's no more than 5kms away So we ask at the tourist information who tells me it's 50kms away, very far, what is going on?
Hand out we flag down a cab and by now it's 1430 and we are running low on time. The taxi says the same and wants to charge us 500 bhat, almost 100 more than the airport taxi, unfortunately we have no choice and get in. It's hot outside, very hot and humid so tempers are in short supply. I show him where on the map and he takes us there, which took roughly 40 minutes. The cheeky sod still tried to charge 500 Bhat until I pointed to a sign in the back which had distances and prices clearly marked, suddenly he came out with the "I don't understand" quote so i came back with the pointing and giving him the correct charge getting out of cab move, he didn't argue.
We found the right desk and asked for visa extensions only to be told they are not here and far away, at least they gave us a map and a road name this time. I noted that they close at 1630 so we had 1hr to get there and get extended, so next cab it is!
Note to rough guide, your Thailand part is horribly out of date, the immigration moved in September 2009 to it's new location 60kms outside of town, your book was published in October 2010, so no excuses!
The Thai government had also put the building the opposite end of the city to the airport so that's over 100kms in total, genius way of making money on tolls!
We arrived at the right place at 1610, rushed through the form filling and waited our turn, we were in the building with a ticket now so they had to see us. 1900 Bhat each and we were done, extended to the 9th November when we intended to leave Thailand for Malaysia, phew headache over now for some fun. No taxis leave the main government complex you have to ride on the back of a moped to get to the main exit and find a cab from there, so we spend the next 10 minutes racing through the complex roads with my rider getting more pissed off by Becky's bike overtaking him every 5 seconds and suddenly I realise I'm in the Thai TT.
Taxi found and he says 300 back to the centre, but he doesn't look happy about and we soon find out why, we have to go through a flood area! On both sides of the road the water is almost to the top of car wheels and by the looks of it, running with quite a current. The roads are slow too as people have started to park vehicles on the side of freeway bridges, forcing 3 lanes into one. Rivers are almost to the top of the banks and brickworks and we pass a football pitch were only the crossbar is visible above the waterline. To make matters worse a huge storm cloud is building over Bangkok and the first few spots of rain start to hit the windscreen. Bangkok is very flat and on the mouth of a river so it's in real danger, but interestedly the rivers and canals in the centre are all quite low and very few sandbags can be seen. In my opinion it looks like the outskirts have been sacrificed to protect the city centre where the money is made and the tourists go. You certainly notice this when walking around Ko San Road, you wouldn't even know the city limits were under 5ft of water. The raised freeways are now looking more like car parks and people are even camping in the back of cars and vans, but we manage to get through with no real concerns.
We check on our bags at the hotel ( last time here money went missing) but unless someone has taken my dirty boxers, all seems fine so we set offto find food and some WiFi as I need to check on the diving. It's now 1830 and the markets and stalls are in full flow, unfortunately so are the drunken western idiots and the rising humidity and temperature is not helping them one bit. Phad Thai on board and diving confirmed we hit the Koh San Road for some bargain hunting. We walk up and down looking at DVDs, CDs, clothes, suits and other assorted goods. Every 5 seconds someone is trying to drag me in a shop to get a suit made, but I resist all temptation and start to haggle over the prices of t shirts and clothes. One gentleman wants to show me slug racing in his shop and a quick glance at the price list he was shoving in my face showed some very interesting looking slugs, in strange positions, i politely refuse. I ask one woman the price of some t shirts, she says you buy? I say maybe and she tells me to go away, I not tell you price! Interesting way to sell your products.
We return to the room just after 2130, mission successful with some new tops and beachwear and before you ask I was petty enough to go passed the stall where she told me to go away and show her what I bought elsewhere, it does pay to be a little polite. We also came across our first example of panic buying as the local 7/11 ( oh yes, a 7/11 all the way from the US) had one bottle of water left and wanted triple it's normal price, thanks but mouthwash will do tonight!
