13 to 15 September - Bangkok and Surat Thani (Thailand)

I did very little in Bangkok except catch up on sleep and doing this blog. On the afternoon of 14th I was to be picked up at the hotel to catch the overnight sleeper coach to Surat Thani where I was to meet up with the others to continue the trip down through Malaysia to Singapore. An hour before leaving the hotel the heavens opened and there was a foot of water outside the hotel after 30 minutes of rain. I was picked up, but not by taxi, as they could not get through the water. I had to wade through the street for about 15 minutes until the person who came to collect me said that there were no taxis available because of he rain so we ended taking two local buses to the coach terminal. I had been told that the coach departed at 1830 hours, it actually left at 1945 hours, and the arrival in Surat Thani was supposed to be 1030 hours; we arrived at 05.15 hours. I was given a box of very nice biscuits and two bottles of water on the coach. The seats were huge, reclined quite well and there was so much room that I could not touch the seat in-front. Good or so it seemed yet it was a very uncomfortable seat, so much so that I actually slept on the floor. The air conditioning was so cold that I had three blankets to keep warm. It was just as well that the coach was only half full.

The inside of the coach

Flooding

I had to wait until midday before I could get access to a room booked by Madventure (UKTOOZ is now defunct and their website closed) mainly because of communication problems with the hotel staff. Their couch was comfortable for that wait so I had a little more sleep. There is absolutely nothing in Surat Thani, it was even a job to find somewhere to eat. The hotel did a breakfast in the dining room and for the rest of the day it was all room service. Rather strange as the hotel must stink if everyone eats in the rooms. Surat Thani is the town where we are to catch the overnight train to Georgetown in Penang, Malaysia.