Day 28 - Traveling: Koh Tao to Bangkok

What a day. I am exhausted! The original plan for today, was to get a ferry back to Koh Samui where the only airport is located, and then get a flight to Siem Reap, Cambodia. I was supposed to be heading to Kuala Lumpur Malaysia next, but it made more sense to hit Cambodia and Vietnam before heading south. Problem is, I prebooked my flight out of Thailand before I even got here, because all the travel blogs I had read said that was a requirement for entry into the country - they want to be sure you are exiting before your visa expires. Well, that turned out to not be the case, and now I have a ticket on who else, but Malaysian airlines that can't be changed. Grrrr

I'm going to just have to take the loss on that one, I guess. The other problem is that I need to backtrack to get to Koh Samui, and the flights from there to Cambodia (through Bangkok) are at very odd times, so I will basically lose a full 24 hours with the ferry and flight, and on top of it, the ticket is pricey.

So, I was trying to decide what I was going to do while looking for breakfast, and I saw people standing in line for the ferry/bus combo to Bangkok. I hadn't planned on going through Bangkok at all (in fact I was trying to avoid it) and the stories I've heard about lack of safety on the long haul busses weren't leading me in that direction. But, when I saw the line of backpackers all doing the same route, and then the price, I went for it.

 

This ferry was great. It was a high speed boat, with AC, a snack bar, it didn't smell like old fish and socks. :)I literally ran back to my room to throw my stuff in my bag and check out, in order to make it back to the pier in time. I got my ticket with just a few minutes to spare, to grab an egg sandwich and coconut shake to go.

We arrived in a tiny port town and there were private, double decker busses waiting for us. Much better than I was expecting. This was obviously not the same bus line I was warned about. It was predominately other backpackers, so that helped to put my mind at ease.

The ride was supposed to be about 8 hours, but ended up being closer to 10. We made one stop at a great little rest stop with all kinds of goodies, and fantastic sales ladies. :)

Because I had basically just jumped on without plans, I had no where to go when we arrived in an alley somewhere in Bangkok, and it was now 11pm. Hmmmm

As the backpackers started dispersing, jumping in cabs heading in all directions, I started to panic a bit. There were no hotels in my immediate view, and it had no idea where I was. Had it been daytime, or a more populated area, I would have just walked around until I found a decent spot. I've done that quite a bit on this trip, in fact, but it was not going to happen tonight under these circumstances. I spotted another solo chick talking to a cab driver, and asked her if she wanted to split a cab to the airport. The airport is outside the city, about 45 min from where we were dropped, so I figured it would be best to be close so I could get an early flight out without having to battle traffic.

I was dropped at the terminal and I went inside to use the wifi to book a hotel, caught another cab for the 5 minute ride, and am calling it a night. My flight to Cambodia is EARLY in the morning and it's past one now. Shuttle to the airport is less than 5 hours from now. :/