On November 18th the TA’s and teachers of our school had a good lunch at a restaurant in town. It was timed nicely so that I could eat before setting out to the airport and Thailand… so I thought! I have never had to wait so long to get food. An hour after ordering, I hadn’t even been given my drink. They were bringing one dish every 5 minutes for 40 people… half of whom had ordered yesterday! It was great food, don’t get me wrong, but when it finally came I had to wolf it down and abandon my tea. Pascal was still eating, so Sam picked me up from the restaurant, sped back to the house – where I flung everything into my rucksack – then it was back in the car and on to the airport. As luck would have it her friends were arriving the same hour that I was departing so she had offered a lift. Hollie (the dog) was with us. Everything was going well until we got to the second toll booth. Where were the tickets? We both looked at the dog. No sign of them. Sam stopped in the middle of the freeway and we both searched frantically for the tickets. No joy: had Hollie eaten them? Quite likely! Our only option was to cross 4 lanes of high speed cars and pay in the toll money queue. On the move again, Sam said “I don’t get it; I just put the tickets there for one second…” she looked where she was pointing and noticed the tickets tucked behind the steering wheel. “Whoops!” Quality entertainment. The rest of the journey passed. As we pulled up in the car park, we both suddenly got really excited. We’d made excellent time. I checked-in my bags then we had some stupidly expensive airport nosh and tried to hide Hollie – didn’t help that she’d been sick on the floor - then went to the arrival hall.
Sam had drawn an ‘artistic’ sign for her 4 chums. They eventually arrived and I had a quick Hello Goodbye before heading back to Departures.
Why is it that people in airport security always make you feel guilty! It wasn’t long before I was on the plane: KLM bound for Amsterdam. It’s funny: I’ve never really thought about the Dutch stereotype, but everyone walking onto the plane, it was easy to guess. In the 15 minutes before take off, I read the magazine and pondered over the safety belts. Although the buckle was secure, the strap slid easily back and forth. A visual deterrent? Or maybe just assurance for passengers: let’s be honest; if the plane should crash what use would they be anyway!?
I was distraught to discover we would all be sharing the same TV for the journey and that X-men 3 was the only option (which I’ve already seen); but the food and drink made up for it. Plus I had 3 seats to myself.
When we touched down in Bangkok, I could again smell that greenhouse-scent of Malaysia and Uganda: wet plants! I began the trail of moving floors to customs passing through a maze of glass rooms with different peoples waiting to get to different places. I got through customs without any problems. Determined not to be conned in my first 10 minutes I looked for a taxi driver who would take me to Khao San for 500bt. Nobody would. A little frustrated I took the best offer 700. He led me to his taxi: as soon as we left the air-conditioned airport Wham –the heat hit me: and this was supposed to be the cooler time of year! It was 11pm and it was 28 degrees. On the way to Khao San Road I realized that this was the new airport (recently opened), which explained the taxi prices. The driver was eager to show me all the sights of Bangkok (including “sexual ping-pong”) “another time” I told him. Trusty Lonely Planet in hand I walked down the backpackers’ center of Asia. The first place offered a double room, with a/c for £8 a night; but – thinking I could get cheaper for a single bed – I lugged my bags to the next hostel… no single rooms left… and the next… slightly more expensive. Hot, sweaty and tired; I quickly gave up the hunt and return to the first place Chart Guesthouse. On the TV, Liverpool was playing Middlesborough, I watched a bit with a Thai beer in hand, but then hit the hay.
It was an awkward night’s sleep: I had the prickly feeling I was being bitten by a mozzi. Then I woke and saw I was being bitten by a mozzi. After that I slept better.
The next morning I woke early, eager to get round the city before the heat kicked in. I walked down the road to the Grand Palace… but that was where my exercise for the day ended. A man outside the palace told me that it was closed until 12 as it was a time of prayer. But he did call over a tuk-tuk driver (3-wheeler 3-seater ..thing). He drew a route on my map… ‘this man will take you to the Sitting Buddha, the Standing Buddha and the Golden Mount… and then he will take you to Tailor Fashion! All for 30 baht. The Sitting Buddha, the Standing Buddha and the Golden Mount!’ I was a little dubious at first, but I thought ‘What the hey!’ I can come back at 12. And so the man kept his word. He took me to the Standing Buddha. A huge glistening gold plated Buddha in a beautiful garden and next to an equally bright temple. There was a monk teaching some people in the garden and there were some caged birds that you had to pay a donation to free… seemed a bit cruel to me; but then I’m a soft Westerner. From there we went to the Golden mount. Over 100 meters high, it was built in 1865 for King Rama III. Inside are deposited relics from the Grand Palace. The tuk-tuk driver said he would sit this one out. There was a Thai voice speaking as I climbed the steps; whether it was a prayer or a tour guide, I couldn’t make out. I didn’t realize it was a Golden Mount until I got to the top - where I discovered there was a 10bt entrance fee - I gave her 20: she smiled and I realized I’d just made a donation. Still; there was a great view from the top of Bangkok and all its shiny temples and palaces gleaming in the sunlight.
From there we went to the Sitting Buddha. I was just about to take a picture when a man appeared from out of nowhere (remember the shopkeeper in Mr Ben? Just like that!).
He started to explain the origin of the sitting Buddha: apparently Chiang Mia in the north used to be the main city of Siam; but when the Burmese army invaded everything in the city was ransacked… the only thing that survived was the Sitting Buddha that had been sent down river to Bangkok in an unmanned boat. Now it is one of the most sacred items in Thailand. He seemed an honest chap so I asked him about tailors in Thailand. Once more he told me a colourful story about the history of cloth and traders in Bangkok… the nitty-gritty was that x,y&z brands were of good quality and that the tuk-tuk drivers get petrol coupons and a cut from whichever tailor/jeweller/tour company you make a purchase from. With that he disappeared.
Back in the tuk-tuk our next stop was Tailor Fashion. I noticed as we entered that as Mr Ben’s shopkeeper had said- it was a good-brand store. A man named Barry came to my service. I’ve never met a better salesman. Within 3minutes he’d convinced me I needed a suit, chosen a fabric and style and was taking my measurements. I decided to have it sent back to England… and as it was a lump fee for shipping it made sense to get a few shirts and ties while I was at it. I said I’d be back the next day for a fitting. Walked out of the shop almost 200pounds lighter, but feeling good. With Danny’s wedding coming up, I had an excuse; and this was a suit for life… or until I put on weight.
I checked the time: only 10:30… asked the tuk-tuk driver what he recommended doing.
“You want nice necklace? Nice earrings?” he beamed at me.
Next thing I knew, I was walking past a machine-gun bearing security guard into Thailand’s Jewelry and Cut Stones Department and been given a glass of lemonade… “this is where the gems are cut and polished” a lady said guiding me and 7 other tourists through the workshop “No photographs!” It was like being in a Bond movie. At the other end I was escorted round a room of many tables by a jewellery guru. “How much?” I heard myself asking. “For your currency… £870… that’s minus the tax of course!” Moving along! When I had made it clear that I had no wife, girlfriends or living relatives to buy jewellery for; she took me to the ‘budget counter’. ‘Christmas is approaching…’ my brain was saying. Before I knew it, I’d made my second purchase of the day.
The tuk-tuk driver then took me to the Tourist Agency. I told the man there my plans for the week. Unfortunately Khao Yai (beautiful national park) was badly flooded and the roads were not good yet; so I decided to go to Kantanuburi for two days and a night and then back to Bangkok to go south to Ko Chang Island for 3 nights. He told me that the minibus would pick me up the next day at 7am.
Happy with how the week was turning out so far… I had the tuk-tuk driver take me back to the Palace. I bade him farewell and gave him 200bt for his morning’s work.
The quite road I’d walked down that morning; was now bustling with touts, traders and tourists both foreign and Thai. The palace was divided into two parts; on one side; the buildings were devoted to Buddha and on the other: residential and administrative.
Everyone was in awe of the amount of gold everywhere.


Inside one of the temples was the original Emerald Buddha. You had to take your shoes off to enter, and you weren’t allowed to point your feet at Buddha. The hall, like the walls of the castle was covered in beautifully painted stories.
The second half of the palace had less gold but was no less grand.

The sun was getting hot, so I bought fish and rice dish from a street vendor and took shade under some trees. A guy who was laughing at me in the queue came and sat next to me. His name was Uh “like the pig noise” he said – odd pigs in Thailand.
There was one place on my list I’d not seen: Wat Arun: The Temple of Dawn. I took a walk as a Tuk-Tuk was overcharging… eventually popped out on a pier opposite the temple. There was a small boat to the other side: 3 bt! 4 pence.

After walking round all day I was in need of a rest. The next taxi driver – Boy – knew just the place. I had a great Thai massage that put the world to rights; I could have spent my entire week in those hands… but hunger strikes! I had Boy take me to the nearest Thai restaurant to sample the finest in Thai seafood cuisine. I had spicy fish steak, delicious shrimp and fried rice whilst watching Thai boxing on the TV. Lovely!
I decided to walk back to Khao San via Siam: the heady upper-class part of town with department stores galore and the sky-train. I stopped in a music store for a while to play the piano; then I found they had a cinema at the top showing Casino Royale. It just made sense! The cinema was not what I expected: a waitress brought a whisky to my reclining leather armchair with drinks table and foot rest. Before the film there was a 5-minute tribute video to the King and his lifeworks, during which everyone was standing.
On the way back to Khao San, I noticed that Bangkok has a large homeless problem… every bridge and bus shelter was occupied by someone sleeping-rough.
The next morning, I stood outside waiting for the minibus. It was pretty prompt. I got in and was surprised to find that all of the passengers were women and I was the youngest in the van. I couldn’t imagine some of these women trying to climb onto an elephant.
I got talking to a Vietnamese woman who gave me some travel advice for Vietnam. On route she said she thought there’d be more old people on the tour… since we were going to a museum. Museum? What museum! I started to think I’d taken the wrong bus.
We pulled up at the War Cemetery; a chirpy guide jumped on to the bus and apparently said we had half an hour here… although I could only make out every third word she said. The cemetery was for all the Allied soldiers who had died in Japanese Prisoner of War camps. It was divided into British, Australian, Dutch and American sections. It was sobering to see how many lines of soldiers were there; tens of thousands; mostly my age when they died. As I was walking round I met an Australian couple that were also surprised to be here. They were shepherded in to the same minibus as our group, it turned out they weren’t staying the night in Kantanuburi. Now I thought about; was anyone on this bus? It would explain the lack of bags on board!
Our next stop was the War Museum. A collection of pictures, models and war memorabilia. From the museum we could see the bridge over the River Quai. The infamous bridge built by the POW to extend Japan’s railroad into Burma. As with most tourist attractions in Thailand, there was a cluster of stalls selling Thai food, clothes and ‘other’. There was a steady stream of people walking across the bridge; we joined the line. I got a third of the way over before I noticed that there was nothing stopping me falling into the river. At the same time I started to feel a little weak at the knee. From then I stuck to the track and let people walk round me. It’s a beautiful place.
Back on dry land, I followed the rail down to an engine that used to run on the railway. There was a group of young students with their ‘witty’ teacher. He was spouting something funny; sadly I didn’t know enough Thai to respond so I reverted to good old TPR… I took a photo of them and let them take one of me to keep them happy; then rushed back to the minibus.
We were dumped at a station and told not to get off the train until we were told by our chirpy guide. I thought – as did many of the tourists – that the train was an old style choo choo; but alas no; it was quite ugly really. My Australian friends had gone somewhere else and I was left with 3 BA workers from Newcastle (who didn’t like Bangkok or the hot weather). We got on and sat down. I found a seat next to a monk. I found myself thinking should I give up my seat for someone else; but no-one looked like they were in more need than I… and then I thought ‘surely the monk should be the one giving up his seat first…’ and with that conclusion I relaxed into the journey. The monk had 2 friends, one with a contagious laugh and the other an old man. A cake seller walked past with donuts and pancakes. I asked for a pancake; he gave me a donut. A family of tourists was subtly trying to get a photo of the monk. After they’d got off the train the monk suddenly grinned and pulled his camera out and asked me for a photo with him. The laughing man took it. Then he wanted a picture with the old man as well… it was hilarious. The pancake man past again and I got my pancake!
It was a short drive from the train station to the floating restaurant for lunch. This was more like it: young backpacker types! They were mainly Australians and Kiwis with a splatter of Europeans. I was the only Brit there for the night. Lunch was nice, though obviously spiced down for tourists. The two guides (code named Ladyboy and Sam) both kindly pointed out that I was here alone and had no friends… time to introduce myself! We boarded a pick-up and headed up to Hellfire Pass: a corridor cut through solid rock for the Japanese railway, named by POWs working by firelight in the deep shafts… the museum was an informative history of the railway, the people forced and the methods used to build it.
From the museum we walked down through the manmade gorge. It was so short yet very deep: more people died here than any other part of the line.
Walking back I got talking to Lawrence and Leticia from Paris; both History teachers.
Back at the top; we took the pick up to a nearby waterfall. It had been a hot day so most of us stripped off and took a refreshing pummelling from the water. I was amazed how easy the rocks were to walk on.

I met 3 Kiwi lads: Tod and Dave (students) and Miks (history/PE teacher/rugby player). They decided to make me an honorary Kiwi for the day … which was nice! Before heading back for dinner, I bought some dried banana and honey-coated Yams (don’t knock it til you’ve tried it). The Kiwi’s were on the beer as soon as they sat at the dinner table. Like in Harry Potter; those who had been here the night before, went on to the floating guesthouse on wheels; but as this was our first night; we got to take the boat ride… in the dark.
The floating guesthouse was cool (all rooms were doubles so I ended up with Tod). We dumped our bags and headed straight for the bar… where Miks declared a tops-off rule… and astonishingly everyone followed suit. The night started with international drinking games… the Germans was to stand on a chair singing, put hands under the table lift the table and then drink while the table was still in the air. Following this was an international song contest… the French surpassed the Germans with Frere Jacque… there was then a dance-off between the Kiwi’s and the French: a tough competition… and we finally crashed at crazy o clock. Our musicians for the night were four old men with a badly out-of-tune guitar (which I’d tried to fix but broke the strings), some bongos, a bell and a drum. I’ve never heard country and western played quite like it was tonight.
The next morning, Tod was already packing when I woke. In a panic, I packed too and ran out with the Kiwi lads… nobody was up. We went up to the breakfast hut… tell a lie: everyone was up having breakfast! Head was ringing a little so I sank a few coffees and carefully downed the breakfast of scrambled egg on toast (I know: very Thai!). Seconds later everyone was heading out to the larger waterfall and we realized that we’d got up an hour early… we were rafting today! Still on a positive we did get two breakfasts! The rest of the rafting crew (French couple, Kiwi 6 and me) soon after and before long we were cruising downstream on a bamboo float. It was important that no-one moved; or we’d capsize. The guide said we could swim… the Kiwi’s had a paddle and the Frenchman swam to the other side of the river; climbed a rock, dived back into the river and then swam against the current back to the boat: we all watched in awe. I decided to pass on the dip as it was the same water that our toilets ran into … and that Shawn had been sick in this morning. Not quite the rapids I’d envisaged; the raft stopped just before a bent bridge.
The restaurant was on the other side. A couple of girls really weren’t happy about crossing it; I led the way to put their fears at ease, whack! a plank flew up as I stood on the other end of it. Hmmm. I’m not sure if I was helping. Miks and Dave decided they were going to jump into the river and swim to the restaurant. As soon as they hit the water the current threw them downstream: they only just made the restaurant.
From there we boarded the minibuses and headed to the elephant sanctuary; where the elephants used to work to transport timber. A harness and bench had been attached to the elephants; the ride was far less scary than the ride there in the back of the pick-up. I was put on an elephant with the French couple. I tried a couple of times to make conversation but by the time I’d put a sentence together in French, the moment had gone. Our elephant was sick; every 5 minutes on our hour journey he sneezed up at us (you’ve seen Jurassic Park). Every time I looked back at the Kiwis it was like a clip from some Vietnam movie; they all looked half dead. It was hot mind, and not much shade. Afterwards we fed them some fruit (the elephants – not the lads) and headed back to the restaurant for lunch.
Once lunch was over, we made our fair-wells and were assigned to minibus for the journey back to Bangkok. I was with the Australian couple. Turns out the lass was from Teeside originally and had been everywhere… passport was nearly full. She got me thinking about all the places I’d still like to visit or work in; apparently Australia gives a years working permit to anyone under 30.
It was on the way home on day 4 that I realized Thais drive on the left! I got back to Khao San and tried a place just off the main road… £4.40 for a/c and a flushing toilet! Rainbow, it was called. I had a curry there before bed. Tomorrow would be Kho Chang!
Woke early and walked to Chart with my stuff (where I’d said I’d be staying). A man walked past with a trail of tourists (like he was holding the golden goose). I followed him to a big coach, got on and made myself comfortable. It was almost full, when a driver told me to move to the front to sit next to another single-seat person so that the couples could sit together. “Hello I’m Gemma” said a voice which could only be the Midlands
“That’s Dave, Jeff, Nim and Nun” she pointed to the two couples behind her. I waved.
The next 6-hour coach ride flew by. We talked about everything. Work, life, love, loss, leisure... The kind of conversation you can only have with a complete stranger. The weirdest thing was her uncanny resemblance of a former girlfriend of mine: same voice, same eyes, hair, expressions, that look over her glasses… except in this case; I clicked.
Obviously I didn’t mention it… might have freaked her out a bit. She seemed to so far have had the same holiday as me; they all went to watch Bond on their first night; they all went to Kantanuburi; she met 3 of the Kiwis the day before I got there, done the elephants, the rafting … and I’d been told by the Kiwis about this guy who collects sculptures and sells them in the UK; 8 months here, 4 months home… and lo behold: Jeff was that same man! It really is a small world. Jeff lent us his laptop for the second leg of the journey to watch LOTR3… who backpacks with a laptop?! What a guy!
Before long we were on the ferry to the island. It looked like Isla Sorna (sorry: that’s two Jurassic Park references in as many paragraphs) stunning.
On the other side we and a few other tourists followed Jeff and Dave onto a pick-up/taxi thing and before long we were flying up and down the winding road of Kho Chang to Lonely Beach. They stopped at Nature Beach resort. A picture postcard image of paradise… coconut laden palm trees, white sand the sun falling over the water. On the top of this was the gentle pulse of the greatest Chillout Albums… perfect calm.
It was my birthday today… I’d forgotten. So after checking into a beach hut on the sea front, we went to a BBQ and had barracuda steak with baked potato. Then we walked to the Tree house at the end of Lonely beach. A cosy bar on stilts; there was a nice collection of beautiful people there all relaxing and enjoying life.
After a couple of beers and a goldfish bowl; we headed to bed.

I woke up at 8ish. No-one was up. I went for a swim in the sea. Still nobody around, so I decided to hire a scooter for the day and tour the island; less than £3.70.
One crazy thing about Ko Chang is that the road that follows the coast goes 95% of the way round the island; and then stops. To the end of that road I went. Despite looking like the jungle and being reputedly more wild than other islands… the villages were still equipped with ATM’s, internet cafes and 7/eleven stores to keep travellers in touch with civilisation. At the end of the road I found a trail that followed a river through the trees to a beautiful waterfall, with some local children playing in the water. I took some photos but the path certainly stopped here; so I headed back to the bike. From there I drove down any path that looked interesting hoping to uncover the pearls of Ko Chang. One part of the road was so steep that when I applied the breaks, I just skidded onwards. I was so shocked by the skid that I nearly crashed again…but the hill eased and I manoeuvred out of it. By the end of the day I’d seen a lot of waterfalls and trekked through a lot of jungle. I was careful to mind my step, knowing full well of the different snakes that lived on the island. The only one I saw that day was dead on the road. There was a lot of slow traffic on the way back; I found myself driving like a Taiwanese driver in order to get past.
I got back to the beach late afternoon. The boys were away; Gemma was reading in the hut. I’d not eaten all day so I ordered some Thai style noodles then went for a swim as the sun was going down. The psychedelic colours on the water were incredible. It was like those first windows screensavers… blue /orange then pink / blue. We stayed at nature beach that evening and watched the fire poi display by the locals. They were pretty impressive.
On Friday I shifted my stuff into the same block as the others for a cheaper hut. Woke the others at about 10:30 (not an unreasonable time to rise). They agreed to meet me for breakfast… well I was on my lunch by the time they turned up. That afternoon we’d planned to go fishing. Dave had prepared some squid bait. We went for a walk up the road in search of a daft hat for Gemma. It seemed that every other building wasn’t there last year (according to Dave – whose been every year for the last 3)… Ko Chang is experiencing mass developments and mostly for upper class hotels… although Dave and I agree that to be in a hotel is pointless on Ko Chang; you might as well still in Bangkok.
We hired 3 Kayaks and pushed them out to sea. It was a trick to get into them without capsizing them… but somehow we managed it. Then the lads rowed the boats out until the sea was over 2m deep. Dave handed out the fishing tools. Now he said that we wouldn’t be using rods… but I wasn’t expecting this: a wire wrapped around a bottle with a weight, hook and piece of squid attached to the end of it. We threw the end of the line in and uncoiled the wire til the line went slack then pulled it up a few inches and held it. That was all there was to it! Fishermen we were now! All we had to do was wait for a bite. Well we didn’t have to wait long. Jeff caught the first and pulled up a 7-inch snapper: sadly not enough for a meal. In the next 10 minutes I had 3 hooks snapped by a barracuda… as soon as I felt a tug on the line; I’d yank the wire upwards… the third time the wire left a cut through my finger: should have brought my gloves with me.
The next 2 hours were spent rowing from one area to another trying to catch enough for tea. However the first 10 minutes was as exciting as it was going to get. It was worth it just for the sunset. I took my camera in a plastic bag and every so often I’d take a quick picture and then tie it back in the bag, before a rogue wave knocked me into the water; exciting stuff. We let the snapper go and headed back to the shore; I let Gemma row.
We got back to the shore and dived into the sea: floating on our backs and enjoying the stupidly hot water. That night we thought fish appropriate so we headed back to the BBQ place. The last time I wasn’t allowed to return to the salad bar (one bowl only for $40) so this time I made a wall of cucumber rings to maximise the capacity. I had my favourite noodle dish again and also half of Gemma’s yellow curry… which seemed way too hot to be a yellow curry. Jeff checked that there were no broken hooks in his meal, but it was ok. At the end of the night, I swapped emails with the Midland mob, and wished Gemma luck with her future travel plans.
On Saturday a group of monks had come to bless the Nature Beach resort on its 7th birthday. Jeff had advised me to make an early start on the road home… so I left the others sitting in the room of prayers with the monks (they really do like to pray and chant) and snuck out to the road. A full taxi turned up after half an hour. I had to stand on the back bumper and cling for dear life as it wound its way to the ferry. There I bought a cheap ticket and was crossing the sea within ten minutes. I was happy about what great time I was making. At the other side however, my luck dried up. The next coach to Bangkok was at 11:30 (2 hours time). A German family was trying to get there sooner and had located a minibus for 4000bt… we just needed more people. I tried to recruit people hanging round the café and bus terminal, but they either were Ko chang bound or had already bought a bus ticket. In the end the family left in a private car: coach it was then! There was a shop with a/c which made the wait for the coach bearable. When it came I found a good seat with a/c vent above and in the shade… but I forgot: I was on my own and was promptly shifted to a random seat to let a couple sit in my slot. It was probably the hottest bus journey I have ever made. The a/c barely worked. The co-pilot should have been shot. He put LOTR 1 on the video. We watched disk 1, then 3, then 2 then 2 again, then 3 then 4. We stopped at a service station… does 4 continue? No – we get Godzilla instead… halfway into this and the TV menu starts flashing on and off (he’s obviously sat on the remote). Some old tourist tried to fix it and ended up turning off the TV completely… which nearly a fight.
The saving grace of the journey was meeting Tim and Rhea at the service station. Working in Thailand and Vietnam respectively; they both want to go to Uganda to report on the condition of migrants fleeing the Sudan and the Congo… so we had a good natter.
Tim got me thinking about teaching English with an NGO in northern Thailand… there’s so many options. “If you have a free year…” he said. I smiled “Years are what I do have!”
The bus stopped at Khao San. I dumped by stuff at Rainbow then took a taxi to the place I’d bought my suit from, hoping they were still open. Talk about a wild goose chase. The first man, who’d drawn on the map had marked it in the wrong place. When I did find the name of the road… nobody could tell me where it was. I walked round for over an hour, until I found it… not surprisingly it was shut. A tuk-tuk driver who claimed he worked for the tailors… gave me a lift home. I thought I’d end the week on the same way it started… with a nice massage. I slept like log.
I walked to the tailors the next morning: I thought it would be quicker. Barry was there again… I tried on the shirt: there’s nothing that compares to a shirt made to measure… and the suit looked fantastic. I tried it on… he made some chalk lines across the excess fabric: this suit was going to look great!
Smug, I walked back to Khao San. The people in the rainbow told me to allow 3 hours to get to the airport… which gave me 15 minutes to have a banana milkshake.
The airport bus went right past the hostel and had arrived at the airport within the hour. I checked in, paid my departure tax and made for the long passport queue. I tried to guess where people were from… usually what they were wearing or the amount they were sweating gave it away. I spent my last Thai bahts on ridiculously priced baguette and coffee and was ready to fly.
The journey home was only 3 hours and before long we were descending into Taiwan through the rain and thick cloud. Nice to be back!