The two countries of Thailand are North and South. Part 12
Part 12. In which we fly south, but we only dream of peace.
November 29, Thursday. Chiang Rai - Phuket - Phang Nga.
No plans
Total mileage 74 km
Map for clarity:
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Total mileage per day, including flight, 1700 km
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The morning didn't start with coffee.
Only when I opened my eyes did I read the news: “Four tornadoes hit Thailand at once”
photo from the Internet
Well, just imagine - I'm in Thailand, in a couple of hours I'm flying to Phuket and here it is. Tornado! ! FOUR!! ! Probably, only our hotel remained from all of Thailand, and everything else was wiped off the face of the earth!
A plan is already spinning in my head how to escape in such a situation. Climb under the bed. And trembling hands and blind eyes are looking for details. It turned out that someone filmed a tornado on video. Four at once. In the sea. From afar. And posted it online.
photo from the Internet
Yes, tornado.
Yes, four.
But, you see, there should be a separate frying pan for journalists in hell for such news. I've been gray since morning!
On this high note, I woke up my husband and sent him to the laundry to get clean clothes, and I myself repacked my suitcases so that warm clothes and souvenirs were in one suitcase, and light, beach ones in another. It turned out to be very convenient, we did not even open the first suitcase in the south.
Breakfast in Chiang Rai was heavenly.
Firstly, it came as a surprise to us, as it was not announced at booking. Secondly, it took place in paradisein a beautiful courtyard.
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The breakfast itself is so-so - banana, egg, coffee. But the atmosphere!
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We sat, chewed bananas, looked at the fish and were sad, saying goodbye to the north. We were only consoled by the fact that there were still 10 whole days ahead in the south.
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After breakfast, the owner of the hotel himself took us to the airport for 200 baht.
There are an abundance of gold installations along the road.
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Before the trip, I looked for mention of a bus from the city to the airport, but did not find it, only a taxi. And at the airport I saw bus number 5, so there is definitely one.
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Even at the airport there is a smoking room in the gazebo, it's very nice there. Just opposite the stop of this 5 bus.
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I took a flight with the Vietjet, as I have flown with them more than once. Everything suits me - low price, large hand luggage for free, the ability to order any number and weight of checked luggage and good service on board. But this airline is notorious for delays and flight delays, consider this unpleasant fact if you follow my example.
We took 15 kg of luggage for one ticket, for the second - only hand luggage. They handed over the heavy suitcase (by the way, I very accurately determined our need for luggage - the suitcase weighed 14 kg), and they took the light one with them to the cabin. For hand luggage, there is a scale-frame next to the check-in desk, I weighed it, it turned out 6 kg, but when checking in, they simply attached the "Hand luggage" tag to this suitcase, without weighing it.
Sitting 3x3, next to us, by the window, was a Thai (or Chinese? When Asians are silent, I don’t distinguish them) grandmother and sighed heavily. She probably wanted to fly alone and lie down on all three chairs. I searched in search of empty seats, found by the window, moved. The husband stayed in his place, by the aisle, so this did not help my grandmother very much. But, on the other hand, I enjoyed landing on the water! ))
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Of course, the plane landed on the runway and not on the water, as it should be for the planes, but the effect was absolutely identical to the natural one)
The plane was descending and was already almost belly scooping up the sea, as a beach flashed under us and, having jumped over the fence, we sat down safely. I had a similar experience in Bali, where the runway was generally extended into the sea, so now it was not at all scary, but even fun.
We picked up a pre-booked car at Phuket Airport
(National, 2 full days - 2 thousand baht)
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The right hand drive and the narrow road near the airport made our life very difficult. At some point, when we were “rushing”, pressing our left side against a concrete wall, and pushing oncoming unfortunates with our right wing, my husband asked me if I had a plan B and how to return the car right now. I said:
- Dear, any whim for your money. Find a place to stay and call to come rescue you.
The prospect of standing between the wall and the oncoming lane did not please her husband, he gritted his teeth and hobbled to the wide road.
And there!
There we rushed like birds, because the oncoming stream was separated from us by a wide fender. My husband's eyes stopped twitching. We caught the feeling of flying and came to our senses only when the sea appeared on the left. Our bodies demanded relaxation. Beach!
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Probably, from the amount of adrenaline in the blood, we rejoiced at the sea like children!
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The last time I saw the sea was in 2015, and my husband in general in 2013. And he had never seen such a deserted sea in his life.
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We went into the water to wet our feet. I didn’t want to change clothes in the car (and then out of the wet), but I had to do it! We will swim in the sea only in three days)
What can you do in the south of Thailand if you don’t swim? The question is very correct. And my husband asked me it repeatedly.
- Why are we going from Phuket to Phang Nga if the sea is in Phuket?
- You'll see everything! You'll like it!
To be honest, I was hoping to swim tomorrow. But how it happened, it happened. It was at this point that my plans went wrong. But more on that later) In the meantime, we settle down right on the shore, with real southern food - shrimp, and enjoy life.
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Very often, pleasure comes in a moment, overwhelms with some unexpected unreality, crashes into memory as a bright spot where you did not expect to get even the slightest impression. Well, the sea, well, the beach, well, shrimp.
But it was the SEA! BEACH! ! SHRIMPS!! ! It was relaxation, pleasure, happiness! Sabai and Sanuk!
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The second part of the Thai vacation has begun! )
The road to Phang Nga was great.
Hills overgrown with greenery, mountains quite unlike those we have seen in the north.
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I had plans to visit Samet Nangshe Viewpoint. It's very close to the main road. I thought - you need to first look at Phang Nga Bay from the outside, and then from the inside) But I no longer wanted to injure my husband with a narrow road. Let first get used to the right steering wheel.
And it was the right decision.
We reached the city at 4 o'clock. We stopped the car on the side of the road, went to look for food for the evening and an excursion for the morning.
I was worried about tomorrow's bay rides and figured it would be easier to buy a tour. It was possible to leave this question for the morning and calmly take the boat right on the pier, but the situation with our uncertain ride scared me. I thought that suddenly we would not be able to leave in the morning. Well, you never know. The husband will be in a bad mood. Or there will be a steep climb and descent near the hotel (and it was still steep). Or some other problem. Therefore, I suffered to look for a travel agency. We searched for a very long time, walked, then went by car. Passers-by were asked. We were nervous that our windows were fogging up. We searched on the Internet what to do when the windows fog up. The answer turned out to be simple: don't drink while drivingopen the windows and turn off the air conditioner.
Found the only travel agency, at the bus station. Phang Nga Bay tour cost 900 baht per person. Worst money spent ever! Don't do it.
It took the rest of the day to find a travel agency, but we accidentally saw Chinese egg cakes at KFC. Here they were not as tasty as in China and a little greasy, but we sat down on them not like a child.
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At dusk, we reached the Khaowong Resort Phang Nga. From the main road there was a steep ascent along the dirt road and I, leaving my husband, went to see the road. There she met the owner of our hotel and dragged him along. He got behind our wheel and climbed the mountain. This was already my reinsurance, because then we drove along this road several times and went up beautifully.
I would like to tell you about this hotel separately. For all its cheapness ($ 17 per day, and this is in the south! ) The hotel had a stunning view and a super owner.
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We got a separate house with its own terrace. A tiny room, all glass, it has a bed, a TV and nothing else. In the bathroom, in addition to the washbasin, toilet and shower, there is also a closet. There is no hot water. If we were there for a long time, then it could become a problem. And so, if you don’t wash your hair, then in the south the cold water is not so cold. Although, my husband washed his head with cold. It's easier for men)
There is no Wi-Fi either, but we already had mobile Internet.
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It's a pity that this day ended so quickly! Tomorrow we get up very early.
