The Meeting Place

After breakfast we go down to reception to settle our bill. We talk to Maria about returning sometime and how much we have enjoyed staying at the Oasis. Then Maria surprises the Dame as she gives her a bracelet and a small purse, so nice. All the staff gather and insist on us joining them for a group photo.

Basket takes us to the bus stop in his chariot. He waits with us to tell the driver where he should drop us, as we will need to change buses. At the bus station it is not all good news the next bus to take us to  Surat Thani will be in one hour. The Duke wonders why we are taking a bus? Did the Dame spend to much money on Mojito’s? The total for the 2 buses, 160 km, is 320 baht ( £8) for both of us.

The hour goes quickly. Boarding the bus we notice that the driver has a nice knitted cover for his gear stick, is it to keep it warm? Or maybe it is a knitted gear stick. Not many on the bus, the journey takes three hours and is the same route that we came on from the National Park, in fact we go pass the entrance to our previous hotel and The Bridge Café is not finished yet.

Thanks to phone GPS we realize we are not far from the airport, so ask the driver who kindly does a slight detour and stops at the crossroads to the airport. We are staying in an airport hotel for the night as we have early flight. The rain starts to become heavy as we cross the dual carriage way, wearing just shorts and tshirts.  An astute man is trying to take us to the airport which is 5 minutes away, at a cost, so we move away. On the map it is showing the hotel is only minutes away, but no pavements, bad visibility and maniac drivers didn’t make walking with suitcases a very good option. The Dame rings the hotel. Much confusion as to where we are, “is there someone local” the receptionist ask. So a local guy speaks to her and tells us to wait under a sign (for a barber). Within 5 min the car arrives and yes the hotel was just around the corner. Nice and modern, with single story rooms set in nice gardens with a pool, It is run by very young staff but they are very professional. We have some late lunch. Back in our room it absolutely tipped down.

In the evening we chat to a young Austrian couple from Vienna, bravely traveling with a 1 yr old boy. They told us whenever they went to restaurants, the baby would be whisked away by the locals and made a fuss off. So free baby sitting with dinner.

The only thing about a lot of hotels they only seem to sell beer, the Dame is very upset as it is the one alcoholic drink she doesn’t like, oh well we have an early start.