Yesterday’s down day, prepared us for a 14-hour travel day to Bangkok. We’re up at 6:30 am to pack, have breakfast of French Toast and check out of our bungalow at the Mountain Reef Resort. We pay 100 Baht ($3), for a four-wheel-drive truck/taxi to take us to the west side of the island. Interestingly, we paid 400 Baht ($12) to get here three days ago.
When we arrive in Surat Thani, we locate Lomprayah, a high-speed catamaran ferry line to take us to Chumphon, Thailand. We also purchased our bus tickets from Chumphon to Bangkok. When we purchased our tickets, the person helping us seemed very sympathetic, I must look a mess. The combination ferry/bus ticket cost is 950 Baht ($29) each. Since we have forty-five minutes in town, we do some shopping. Andy really liked the hammock we had at our bungalow and since he found them here, he bought one. Travel Tip: if you find something, especially a specialty item, buy it when you see it. I bought some country patches.
The catamaran ride to Chumphon was just over two hours. Fast, comfy seats and a movie, “Jumper”, a science fiction, action film. The engaging movie which made our trip seem to go even faster. It’s a very crowed boat but when we leave, we get directions to get in-line for our assigned bus and seat to Bangkok. Bus 3, seats 48 and 49. With time before we have to board our bus, we make a special effort to look out on the magnificent Andaman Sea one last time with a flood of memories already in my mind.
The sympathetic guy in Surat Thani that booked our tickets for this bus outdid himself. Thank you because we have the best seats on the bus. Front seats, on the bottom level of the double-decker bus with proper air conditioning, reclining seats, and TV sets this is going to be a deluxe trip. We sit back, relax and start watching the suspense movie, “Breach”. A movie based on the true story of Robert Hanssen, one of America’s most notorious double agents. Of all the movies, why this one? They played another movie, “Die Hard 4”. Who doesn’t like a Bruce Willis movie? Fun flick.
Our bus driver pulls us over for a thirty-minute dinner/rest stop. Outside the building, we have Pringle potato chips, another company doing well in Asia. I see countless tourists snacking on Pringles. It must be the handy can and backpacks. Cookies, snack cakes, and candy. Another place is cooking spicy chicken skewers. Andy got one. They also had chicken with vegetables. Inside the building, where most of the locals are, they are selling curry dishes, Andy has some that. I ordered fried rice. Use the restroom and we’re back on the bus. We’re two-thirds of the way to Bangkok. They play one more movie, “Without a Paddle”, this is a good movie to sleep through, which is what I did. It’s supposed to be a comedy of three childhood friends that go on a trip in a remote area to look for long-lost airplane hijacker D. B. Cooper. It doesn’t matter, it’s not worth the time unless you’re having a hard time sleeping.
We arrived in Bangkok at 8:30 pm. After getting our bags from the bottom of the bus we find a taxi. Actually, a taxi driver finds us and takes us to our hotel for 200 Baht ($6). Our taxi driver tells us about “the mob” that has been protesting. He didn’t come into the city at all yesterday. Today is better but part of the city has been blocked off by the police. There has been tension, now riots between the supporters of the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD), the “yellow shirts”, yellow being the royal color of King Bhumibol Adulyadej and the supporters of the National United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD), the “red shirts”. He said it would be good not to go to that part of the city while we are here.
We checked into the Riverline Guest House, our home away from home. It’s a ground-level, single unit with twin beds, two windows, bathroom, and air conditioning. Very nice, clean and it has a courtyard area. I finally have some time to wash a few clothes.
