A lovely rainy Bangkok

It was time to pack up again and continue our journey down to Bangkok. With a 7 hour journey ahead of us we had bought plenty of snacks for the trip. What the woman at the desk failed to tell us was that when you buy first class bus tickets you get given snacks and a meal so we definitely had plenty of food! Before we checked out we did have the small issue of a tiny lizard inside our mosquito net. Trying to get him outside the room resulted in him detaching the end of his tail in defence, much to my apologetic horror, so we decided if he's happy living here then let him be (in the room not the net that is!) We arrived early to the bus station and typically the bus was late but we boarded smoothly and had comfortable seats with enough leg room so we were pleased with our first class choice. We both spent the time mostly reading which I'm so glad I've not got in to as it really does make the time fly. Sleeping also helps. We finally arrived and we were instantly bombarded with people offering taxis. Once we had sorted our bags out Nick show one guy the address and he said he knew it and his taxi is by the meter so we followed him for quite a walk to the car. Turned out he didn't know the place and luckily we had their number so they called up to find out how to get there. Also he then quoted us 600 bhat (£13.50) for the journey which we disputed when he said he had a meter. He said the journey is 1 hour and 40 minutes away but we were frustrated that he lied and took our stuff from the car to find a metered taxi instead. When you have no idea where you are in relation to your destination to pay upfront is just stupid. We then upon further inspection found a legitimate organised taxi rank with metered taxis and 30 minutes later at the hostel the grand total of the trip was 137 bhat (£3). Not only did the original driver lie about the distance by over an hour he wanted to charge over £10 more than the trip was worth! Totally trying to con us because we're tourists. After checking in we headed for some food only to have to run back to get waterproofs as the heavens had opened! We got a little soaked walking to find somewhere but finally chose a lovely restuarant and had the most amazing meal. My main of stir fried chicken with cashew nuts was outstanding. It's the best thing I've eaten since we left and we've already planned to go back so I can have it again. I may even ask for the recipe for a tip! The mosquito net is up and ready and the torrential rain continues. From our room is sounds like we are outside in the rain which is both relaxing and very noisy! Fingers crossed it eases tomorrow for sight seeing.Read more