The flights, the non-existent bus and the adventure
(15.2.2013)
The flights were actually
pretty regular. The first one from Prague to Abu Dhabi I tried to
sleep most of the time. The second one from Abu Dhabi to Bangkok I
DID sleep most of the time.
There was some kind of
issue with booking the seats on the connecting flight from Prague so
I, and half of our plane with me, was told to get the second boarding
pass at Abu Dhabi airport. Strangely enough, that went quite well
considering the bookings were done but didn't show up even in the
system at Abu Dhabi. A little bit of nerves if I'd get stuck there
but eventually it went ok. The funnier part came when getting to the
security check and the gates.
Yes, even in Europe there
are sometimes long lines at the security checks but that huge barely
organized mass of people trying to get to the checks, that was
something. And while the obvious European and North American
travelers were quite nice, patience and organized (possibly also
freaked out and scared), the uncontrolled movement of Arab and Hindu
people made it quite the experience.
The other thing was that
these exact Arab and Hindu people didn't seem to have any knowledge
of what the security checks are actually about, so I ended up feeling
sorry for the security people having to tell them over and over again
to take all their bracelets and watches off. (Jenna Marbles would
understand what I'm talking about – http://youtu.be/VzcBDXyJO_w).
When it was finally my
turn, I didn't even have to take all my gear out and I accidentally
managed to get a cup of yoghurt through. For whatever reason I
beeped, so I had to go to the search booth (now that freaked me out
because I had to leave all my bags at the check, not something I
would do willingly), but the security lady was surprisingly nice and
we even joked about the insanity going on there. Didn't see that
coming, I guess I'm a racist xenophobe for expecting the worst :D She
barely checked me, just agreed with me that it was probably the metal
zippers on my pants and let me go as there was a group of angry Arab
women waiting in front of the booth.
After collecting my stuff,
I found the gate easily. The size of the crowd waiting and the number
of my seat gave me an idea this plane will be „a bit“ larger than
those I usually fly with in Europe. And yup, I was right. Cca five
sections, each three rows of 3-4-3seats. I actually got a great seat,
a lot of space in front of me so even the thing called stretching
legs was possible to certain extent.
And of course the super
nice and super handsome steward was totally gay the moment he started
to speak. Oh well, the usual.
So these were the easy
parts. Even the passport and Visa check, picking up of my bag(s) and
getting cash turned out quite easy. That's were easy stopped.
I followed the bus sign
and started looking for the AE2 bus that should take me directly to
my hostel. It was on the airport web, it had to be true, right? No,
not in here. So after a while of walking outside looking for the bus
and „enjoying“ the sauna outside, I gave up and went back to ask
someone. What a surprise when the lady at the tourist info told me
„That bus doesn't go anymore.“ Well, f*ck.
So I had to take the
airport rail link and from the Phaya Thai station get somehow to the
hostel. After teaming up with a Hindu couple looking as lost as I
was, we managed to get on the train. At the Phaya Thai station, I
once again asked for a bus at the tourist info and got a pretty vague
answer “Yes, go to the Exit 1” which turned out barely helpful as
there was no bus stop there. So I started walking. Many other lost
and confused tourists were walking around, trying to figure out how
to even get a taxi if nothing else. The traffic was insane at that
point (it was around 19:30). At that point I teamed up with a couple
from Austria and as they were going to a hostel not far from mine, we
agreed to take a taxi. Sounds easy, right? About fifteen taxis went
by before we figured out what's the system – when they're taken and
when empty. Somehow, it didn't seem to change the fact most of them
just passed by without even slowing down. Thank you very much. The
tuk-tuk driver was the icing on the cake. “Can you take us to Khao
San Road?” - “No.” and drove away. Thank YOU even more.
After while, some elderly
man took mercy on us and directed us to the right bus stop and told
us the bus number. After some walking, we did find the bus stop, but
the number we needed wasn't included. So we started asking again and
got some proper directions from one lady. She even wrote us a piece
of paper to give to the bus driver so he would know where we need to
go. There was hope once again we may get to our final destinations
for that day.
Then the adventure
started. Kids, do NOT do this at home! (read: alone). The nice lady
was soon picked up by a car and instead of driving off, they stopped
in front of us and offered they would drive us to Khao San road.
There were four people in the car already, but the truck/trunk part
was fairly big and empty. After exchanging a few questioning looks
with the Austrian couple, we decided to be extremely insane and
hopped in. The A/C felt nice. And there we were, strangers going with
strangers in a strange place. It was only the fact it was an Asian
family with two little daughters that kept me from thinking I'm gonna
end up sold to slavery or something like that.
They were just a nice
Asian family because they did drive us exactly to Khao San road. We
offered them some money, but they intensively refused, wished us a
nice stay and left. Asians.
From where they dropped us
off, I had it only a few meters to my hostel. The room was super ugly
and the bed super hard, but there was a bathroom with a shower and I
could lock myself in, so for those 250TBH sounded like a fair deal. I
just went to get some water and the wi-fi password and that was it
for the day. Chatted with mom on G+ for a while, watched TBBT and
Arrow and then attempted sleep.
That turned out to be the
final challenge of the day. Just by looking at the pillow, I refused
to touch that. Even the bed cover didn't look exactly friendly, so I
ended up with my towel as the bad cover and my large scarf as a
pillow. Eventually, I also put the hood of my hoodie over my head to
cover my ears because I was afraid what the fan blowing directly on
my head and my ears might do. The noise from the streets lasting till
4-5 in the morning was a whole other story. I guess I fell into coma.
(16.2.2013)
When I woke up to my alarm
clock at 9 in the morning, I thought I would faint back into
oblivion. I guess it was the lack of fresh air in the room. I packed
as quickly as I was able, checked if there are still seats at the bus
to Khao Sok and headed to search for yet another bus stop. Bus this
time I actually knew where exactly the stop is and which bus I need
to take. And getting out to 29degrees despite the 86,7% humidity was
actually pretty nice and there was even a light cold breeze from time
to time.
I found the stop easily,
the bus came moments after, but I realized I had my purse somewhere
deep down in my backpack so I let the bus go, deciding to get on the
next one and getting my purse out in the meanwhile. After waiting for
what felt and pretty well could have been a half an hour, another 511
bus came. In the meanwhile I realized I was an idiot to skip the
first one. What I didn't know was that the driver simply just drives.
There's another person at the bus collecting the money. But this I
found out only after seeing five million other buses to pass by. Live
and learn, right?
The good thing about the
511 bus was the A/C and the fact that the Sai Mai Tai – Southern
Bus terminal was the last stop. No need to stress about when and
where I need to get out. Also managing without English, even if it
was just the three words “Sai Mai Tai”, was quite the “Eeeeeeeks”
moment.
After
asking around where I can buy tickets and then where I can buy the
one exact ticket, I finally found it and got it. And I have a single
seat! Nobody next to me! That was the good icing on the cake :)
And
now, I'm just sitting here, waiting. 6h
45mins till my bus leaves. And I can't say I'll exactly mind the A/C.
I have my warm clothes so bring it on.
(written at Bangkok Southern Bus Terminal, at 12:45)
(written at Bangkok Southern Bus Terminal, at 12:45)
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