The Journey to Hat Yai, Southern Thailand

All trains going South from Bangkok are booked out until 2012 and we are forced to board another bus to escape the migration to Koh Samui where everyone is heading for full moon parties.
We take a taxi to get to the bus station 3km out of town. The journey should cost 80-100 Thai Baht but when the driver pulls away he turns off the meter and demands 200 baht. For his bad behaviour we tell him ‘where to go’ (so to speak!) and leave him with just 60 baht and a bad mood. After that we disregard the tourist buses after the previous experience and get on a super efficient government bus – they arrive faster because they barely stop! At the end of the journey we are stuck in the middle of nowhere, dropped off at a completely different bus station than we anticipated. We ask a young couple for directions and they point us in the right direction but tell us that it is a very long walk. Just a minute down the road they come past in their pick up truck and are so sweet that they offer us a lift to town!

12 and a half hours is a long time on a bus!



Large temples seem to be dotted around the countryside



Somewhere behind the flowers is the drivers rear view mirror!



We are extremely fortunate to meet such kind people who drive us into towdespite it being out of their way at night time in Hat Yai.



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19th Stop: Bangkok, (Capital of) Thailand

Temperature – 31 degrees C

An unlikely Christmas location, we arrive in Bangkok on the night of Christmas Eve. Bangkok is Thailand’s most populated and dense city with around 9 million people, who know Bangkok by the name ‘Krung Thep’, which translates as ‘City of Angels’. So, a bit like Los Angeles but with more cross-dressers…

Beyond the more well-known party streets are genuine neighbourhoods.



But on the party streets just about anything goes. Notice the man on the right selling fake IDs and University degrees - very cheap!



It is actually hard to find authentic Thai food in the tourist areas. This was a nice photo but the Pad Thai was bland.



The Chao Phraya River used to be the heart of the city, and we board a boat as it is the quickest way to get around.



The many monks somehow live in amongst the sleaze.



Christmas with new friends - from left to right: Wan, Sheryna, Jayne, and us! We find the tallest tower with a bar in Bangkok but the drinks are so expensive we take pictures then leave!



We find a place with cheaper drinks. So cheap that we drink by the jug for better value.