Time to leave the beautiful and ideal Mantra Samui hotel, sayin bye to the lush cocktails, massages and most importantly - SUN! We had a shared a taxi to the airport and got chatting some more funny and friendly Australians (networking guys, networking ha), we were all heading to the same place, Bangkok. So first it was a taxi to the port, then a coach to the ferry, a ferry to Surat Thani, back on the coach to the airport and then checkin for the flight to Don Muang, the journey taking almost 11hours from start to finish, some serious hours going into this travelling malarky!
Whilst waiting to board the plan i had a quick refresh of the lonely planet guide "Southeast Asia on a Shoestring" to see what Bangkok may have in store for us. one thing i read was that to leave the airport it was best to get a taxi with a metre and that the taxis will add a 50bhat airport service charge to the amount, adding how it should cost no more than 2-300 bhat. on leaving the airport we were assigned to a driver by the desk, all legit, however he was asking for 200bhat up front. as we knew it wasn't far from the airport that seemed pricey even with the service charge, so we ensured he used the metre, he looked at us vacant but on the 4th request he reluctantly started the metre. Surprise, surprise it only cane to 85bt, he wasnt a happy chappy and still asked for 150bt. better luck next time scammer ha! The Cinnamon Hotel greeted us with a drink and a good polite service, was clean, comfy and most importantly near to airport for our early flight of 7am on the 7th.
We asked the helpful reception what there was to do in the day we had their, they advised us to stay away from city centre due to the protests that were still ongoing and said it may be dangerous, but suggested using the SkyTrain to see some safer and closer sights. We decided on a full day pass so we could check out a few stops. Siam was the first place suggested to us as it had a shopping centre and us girls always love a bit of window shopping. The shopping centre almost put Manchester's Trafford Centre to shame with its amazing decor, shops (some pretty expensive) and food halls. The food hall was filled with every style of dish you could imagine, seriously spoilt for choice. We chose a lovely Vietnamese restaurant for lunch and had some tasty rice and noodle dishes.
The day was spent taking photos and strolling round the shops, wishing we had more money and more space in the backpack - a girl can dream eh! We did try a different stop, the Victory Monument, but not much to see apart from a memorial piece in the middle of a round about, so back on and back to the shops ha! all shopped out we headed back to the stop closest to out hotel in order to get the short taxi ride "home". This proved more difficult than imagined, as again, non of the drivers were willing to use the metre and instead they all asked for 200bt for a 60bhat journey! Not a chance mate! ! After flagging down and refusing about 5taxis we found a driver willing to put the metre on - about time!
So now were back to the hotel, time to freshen up, have some food and then re-pack AGAIN, all ready to leave for another early morning journey!
Bangkok was only a pit stop to get to Hanoi and it can be said, with the ongoing protests, that I'm not bothered that we hadn't booked longer. It was difficult finding things to entertain us without having to go further a field! Never mind though I'm sure Hanoi with the girls has more to offer! Xx