Aries Residence, Udon Thani, Day 1

We are fortunate enough to wake up to a free cooked breakfast this morning. It is something we may need as we have a long day ahead of us. One of the great things about Amy being a veggie now is that I am gifted with the meaty parts of breakfasts when she gets them. Long may this continue!
After eating we pack again and head back to the airport we got to last night. Today our destination is Udon Thani, and we have to go there via Bangkok. We check in for our first flight fairly easily. Surat Thani airport is very small with only two gates, meaning it isn't very busy and there is hardly and queuing. We breeze through security and before we know it, are sat in front of our gate, waiting to board. The tannoy system spoils our luck though, telling us our flight is delayed. The actual flight time passes, as does the delayed flight time, and we are starting to get a bit twitchy about missing our next flight. We really do not need another night in Bangkok again!
The flight arrives and we board. Air Asia flights are cheap, but you certainly know about it, especially when the loud snorer in front of you immediately leans his seat back as far as it will go. Anyway, it is only a short flight, and we arrive in Bangkok with half an hour left of check in time. We collect our bags that are starting to feel like old friends, we have been through so much together, and get it all sorted. There is a self check in system that just confuses most people and ends up taking much longer then it would normally. They also have a staff member on each self check in bag drop, making the point of self check in rather redundant. Me and Amy consider ourselves experienced travellers though, and our bags are soon shafted onto another plane, and we make it to our gate with plenty of time to spare. We even managed to fit in a burger king.
The next flight finds me sat on the row behind Amy. We seem to wait a long time to take off, as every flight is making for the runway just as we do, but again it is only a short flight so a small delay doesn't hurt too much. Amy finds herself sat next to a very excitable young Thai boy, who plays with her the full journey, which seems to please his Mum very much as she relaxes in her seat.
We land after around 75 minutes, and collect our bags in the small Udon Thani airport. We booked a hotel very close to the airport so as to get a cheap taxi, but we have to get on a minibus for the same price as the people heading to town anyway, which is rather annoying.
It has been a very long day and we are ready to put our feet up, so it isn't great when the door to the hotel is locked. A neighbour pops by, who I'm not sure works there or not, and let's us in to the empty reception. Apparently they haven't received our booking. We show the neighbour our confirmation, as he talks to the owner on the phone. He then says we need to pay, but we explain we already have, and we start to feel like we may not be done travelling yet today. We end up Facebook messaging pictures of our confirmation e-mail to the owner, before we are shown to a nice room.
It would be lovely to relax a while, but we need to get our journey to the border sorted. We go out into Udon Thani town and seek money, which we need to exchange into dollars, and a way to the border. It is late, and Udon Thani is obviously not often frequented by tourists. After being in the most tourist heavy areas of Thailand, it feels odd to be back somewhere were people look shocked to see you. It is also dark, and doesn't seem the nicest of towns to be walking around, especially because our hotel is on the outskirts as well.
We find a bank and get money before deciding that will do for the night. We find a nice guy selling omelettes on rice for about a quid. When we get it it is huge. We buy snacks and coke and head back to the room for a hotel tea. Wild dogs and guard dogs seem to be everywhere, and we run a short bit as we hear growling and barking in the darkness beside us. It's a pretty scary walk home, but it feels good when we get back. What a way to spend our last night in Thailand!Читать далее