Catch up

ok so I have some catching up to do…

We left Ko Tao two days ago, and I must say that of all the places we have visited, Aow Leuk will be the place that I will miss most. The beach was awesome, and the atmosphere was the most enjoyable. A real beach club with not a worry in the world. We were sad to leave

We took a ferry to Chumphon and stopped at the pier for some local dining. Jamie danced for the locals and was a big hit. I have some hilarious video.

We boarded the overnight bus, and thought we had hit the jackpot with our lower deck seats with a table and comfy setup for our overnight  ride to bangkok 

But… Turns out we were on the wrong bus. No worries though, we scored similar seats on the lower deck of the right bus

Our plan was to play cards into the wee hours as we rolled towards Bangkok. But the movie started playing and the lights went out, and our card game came to an abrupt end. No problem, we’ll watch the movie and relax right? WRONG… The TV malfunctioned, and we were left in the dark while the passengers on the upper deck enjoyed a Liam Neeson movie (Taken 3) we tried to figure out what we were going to do for the rest of the night.

Turns out it was a bad idea to take the couch style seating in the lower deck. We had a hard time sleeping, and had a long ride ahead of us.

Good news and bad news… The bus driver drove like a demon and we arrived early in bangkok (4am instead of 5am). Good news because we could get out of the painfully uncomfortable seats an hour early, but bad news because we had no hotel booked for our arrival at the famous Khao San road in Bangkok.

We spent an hour and a half at the MacDonalds with the remaining party goers frm the night before then I set out looking for a hotel. It didn’t go so well. It was 8:30am before I found our spot.😨

Two lessons learned… First, As appealing as the seats with the card table seemed, we should have opted for seats where we could have actually slept, and second, we should have arranged for accommodations before arriving. I did not enjoy spending two hours wandering the streets looking for a hotel after a sleepless night on a bus.

Oh well, next time I take a bus from Chumpon to bangkok with my wife and two young children, I will know better😛😄.

I won’t tell you about the propositions I received  while I wandered the streets as the sun came up, nor the local wildlife (rats) I observed.

But we made it, and after finally checking into a nice place, we all had a nice rest and set out for some Sunday shopping and entertainment. (Family style)

See next post for details…