Today we are heading towards Bangkok, a long drive across Thailand.
So an early start, unfortunately again without breakfast. The Chinese hotel staff are apparently not prepared for early guests, in any case there is no one and nothing to be seen anywhere that could correspond to a breakfast room. Maybe there is simply none.
Noodle soup at the bus station
The taxi arrives in time and takes me to the bus station, which is very well known to me in the meantime. The waiting passengers sit in long rows, mute and tired and bored. At least there are a few restaurants, but I don't find a single one where something western is offered. But the bus trip will be very long, at least half of Thailand will be crossed in a single day. So I urgently need something to eat.
The only thing that seems acceptable, is soup, possibly noodle soup. It's not the kind of food I prefer early in the morning, but it tastes good and fills the stomach. The smiling lady behind the counter is definitely delighted when I give her an honorable nod.
The VIP Bus
The VIP bus (!) turns out to be really different from the previously ones met in Laos. In addition to every imaginable luxury from AirCon to toilet, there's even a travel companion, a fussed-up matron, a few years passed the spring of life. She makes a rather grumpy impression, which does not improve when she assigns me a place that doesn't suit me at all and I insist on another one at the back.
600 kilometers across Thailand
And so I am on the last trip of this journey. It leads over a distance of over 600 kilometers across the country, a long, monotonous ride of approximately eight hours across a boring landscape on a straight highway to the west. That's at least the plan, but as it turns out later, a few more hours will be added to the eight hours. But what the hell, it's the last ride, I wish it would last forever.
The almost empty bus fills up quickly and after a short time it's packed to the last seat. A young shy Thai sits next to me, headphones in his ears, absent face. Unfortunately, only after many hours, almost at the end of the long drive, I come to talk with him. He visited his parents and now returns to Bangkok, where he studies mechanical engineering at the university. A smart boy, he will succeed in life.
Sometimes the bus stops, but surprisingly no one gets out. After about six hours a longer stop, and we are unloaded at an oversized hall with enough space for about two million people.
There is a shop, a restaurant and countless tables and chairs, ready for the crowds who are rushing in. Strangely, however, it remains very quiet, everyone is munching on his food before the nasty matron calls us back to the bus.
Rush hour before Bangkok
It's hard to believe, but the Sunday night traffic is so dense that the arrival is massively delayed and we actually arrive at 19.00 pretty far out of Bangkok. I take a taxi, negotiate the inflated price (Sunday! traffic jam!), but I am aware that I will most likely still be pulled over the table.
My suspicion confirms pretty quickly, that the driver has no idea where to find the hotel Ibis. As I pronounce the word as we do, I-bis and not Ei-bis, he does not understand me. It takes a few tries, but finally we end up at the Ibis Riverside, located on the banks of the huge river Mae Nam Chao Phraya, and I'm very happy with the wonderful room.
P.S. Matching Song: Fifth Harmony - I'm in Love with a Monster
And here the journey continues ...
