Last Monday I left Hua Hin on the Special Express Diesel Rail Car N° 43 to Surat Thani, where I planned to take a bus to Phuket. The Special Express DRC is the fastest and most luxurious train of the Thai Railways, though it is not a first class train, but a fully second class train (so no third class either). The train itself is old and used, but the on-board service is the best. Upon entering the train at Hua Hin, a very friendly attendant was waiting at the door to check if I boarded the right coach. After boarding and taking my seat, she gave me a tray with a light meal and water. The seats on the train are reclining seats and all facing the direction of travel. You would think that in the other direction you would be traveling backwards, but the seats can conveniently be turned around. The train reaches speeds of up to 120 kph, which is the highest allowed speed on the Thai rail network and can only be reached by this kind of trains. And above all it was quite punctual to Thai standards, as we arrived in Surat Thani at 17.30, which was only 45 minutes late.
The delay made me miss the last bus to Patong though, so I had two options: spend the night in Surat Thani (or rather Phun Phin, as the station of Surat Thani is actually located 17km out of the city), or take a taxi to Patong. I decided to go for the second option and found a taxi stand next to the station. Prices could not be bargained as they were fixed by the local government and clearly indicated. The price for a taxi to Patong Beach was 4000 baht, which is around 120 euro, quite expensive for a distance of 250km, knowing that the same distance elsewhere in Thailand would only cost 2000-3000 baht. But as I was really eager on arriving in Patong that evening, I decided to use this taxi service. The driver was of course very happy to be asked to drive this long distance. He was so happy he picked up his sons to take them to Patong with him. Initially I didn’t really understand what was going on, so I thought I was on a shared taxi, which would lower the price for me. Once at my hotel in Patong I wanted to pay the driver 1500 baht, which would be more then enough for my share. He told me to pay 4000 baht though. I told him, that if the taxi is shared, the price is shared too. Then he said the other passengers were his sons. I understood the situation and payed the agreed price of 4000 baht, though I clearly told him that if I have to pay for an overpriced taxi myself, I expect to have the car to myself and no one else. He apologized with the typical Thai smile and left.
My hotel in Patong (Bel Aire resort) was really nice for the price I paid. It consisted of 3 buildings around a street with a lot of bars (and noise). On top of each building there was a jacuzzi, though there was only 1 of them in use. The room had a classic Thai interior with wooden ceilings and wooden furniture which were beautifully carved. I really enjoyed my stay at this hotel and I did an excursion…
To James Bond Island (or Khao Phing Kan). The excursion consisted of a full day program visiting the National Park of Phang Nga by longtail boat and by canoe, lunch at a muslim village built in the water and going to see the monkeys at “monkey cave”. I got picked up at my hotel around 9am and the van drove me to a pier to embark the longtail boat which would take me around some beautiful islands in the park and to a pontoon where I was to embark a canoe showing me around the sea caves. It was astonishing how beautiful this area is. After the canoe trip, the longtail boat brought me to James Bond Island.
In fact, it is not the island of James Bond, but it’s the island of Fransisco Scaramanga, better known as the Man with the Golden Gun (the villain from the movie with the same name). I found this part of the excursion a bit disappointing, as there were far too many tourists on the tiny island and in the movie it seemed much more peaceful. We then went on to Ko Panyi, a village on the water, which is a strict muslim village. Therefor everyone on the boat was asked to leave all pork products and all alcohol on the boat, as these were strictly forbidden in the village by local law. We all got a halal lunch there, which to me tasted like normal Thai food. I then used the spare time to discover the village a bit. Of course it’s some kind of tourist trap, as all excursion boats stop at this village to have lunch and thus it is packed with souvenir stands. Arriving there, I did see a mosque at the centre of the village, which I wanted to see, so I looked for it. I found it, but didn’t go in, as it was just praying time.
The boat then left the village and brought us back to the main land, underway we got surprised by a storm, but still our captain managed to get us safely into port. I quickly boarded the van which then brought me to the monkey cave. In fact, it’s not a monkey cave, as the monkeys play around in front of the cave and are not allowed inside. The cave itself is a place of worship with some nice Buddha statues.
When I finished playing with the monkeys and conveniently giving them all the names of the people I miss so much back home, the van brought me back to the hotel. The next few days I continued enjoying the beach, tanning, swimming, eating, drinking, massages and going out.
This afternoon I left Patong by van, bringing me to Surat Thani station. There I was booked on the International Special Express sleeper train to Bangkok, where I will stay for about one week. I had to wait about 6 hours at the station of Surat Thani as the van arrived far too early compared to the departure time of the train, but luckily there was a nice evening market nearby, where I got some delicious street food. The train was delayed for more than an hour, so I wanted to spend this time getting a foot massage, but I couldn't find any massage places near the station. I was happy when the train finally arrived at the station, so I could lie down and sleep.
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