Trip 4 - Day 26

4th September

Wake up at just after 09:00 and A says that I need to "Go shower qiuckly" as it seems that the bus to Bangkok leaves on the Sukhumvit highway at 10:00. A is going to work 'in shop' today so she gets ready as well and she drops me off at the bus stop where the bus is ready to depart.

My fare is collected ( 100 baht to Ekkamai) and I settle down for what I suspect to be a long trip. No journey on the highway this time though as we have many stops to make en route. We finally arrive at Ekkamai at 13:05 and as I don't know my way around and am unsure of exactly where the Immigration office is, I simply get a taxi and I am told that Bangkok traffic is very busy, so the fare is 300 baht. I suspect that this is a scam, but I'm not prepared to argue and just want to get everything done and return to Pattaya.

Once at Immigration, I ask at the information desk where I need to go and the guy looks at my passport and says "Desk 519" and directs me around the corner. I find an area full of seats and glass windows with officials behind and it's reminiscent of a Post Office in England with bored officials sat at the counters. I see '519' which is the last window on the right and has a sign saying "Stamp Correction", so I am guessing that this is a fairly common issue.

I approach the counter and before I get the chance to explain, the guy just takes my passport, looks through the various stamps; pulls a piece of paper over (same list as in Jomtein) and looks up my entry date. He takes a red felt pen and crosses out 08 Sep 2007 and stamps underneath 07 Nov 2007. He closes the passport and returns it to me. That's it! I could have done the bloody job myself with a red felt pen and a date stamp borrowed from any bar.

My total time in the Immigration office has been 8 minutes! I decide I'll take a motorcycle taxi back to the bus station and whilst it's cheaper at just 100 baht, the journey makes the ones in Pattaya seem like child's play. I'm convinced that we're going to be involved in an accident at least four times on the journey. The heat and the traffic fumes are also oppressive and I just want to get away from here as quickly as I can.

At the bus station, there is 1st class bus service to Pattaya at 117 baht leaving in 5 minutes at 14:10 or a 2nd class bus service at 91 baht. I'm guessing that I'd been on 2nd (or even 3rd) class coming here, so I opt for the more expensive journey this time. My total time in Bangkok has been just 65 minutes and most of that has been spent in traffic jams.

The coach for this journey is much more comfortable and we head straight to the highway and make good time getting as far as the Sri Racha area. We then turn off towards Ao Udon and we pass within 200 metres of 'my home me'. We continue along to the main road and I recognise the hotel & bar "England Country" which is where myself and A stayed when I spent a weekend with her family back on Trip 2.

We continue on to Pattaya and arrive in the terminal on Pattaya Nua where I then have the trek back to the room with just a quick detour via Sukhumvit Soi 53 to get a bottle of water (10 baht) and a double portion of freshly fried chicken with sticky rice (55 baht).

I get back to the room and grab a quick nap before A arrives home and then I get a call from Kevin telling me to "get my arse" down to Noi's bar to join him for a beer and for him to tell me what he wants sorting out for his Internet connection at the new place.

I tell A that I'll only be gone a short while to which she simply gives me a look and says "You go see Kevin? You go long time for sure"

As it happens I am an extremely 'good boy' and only have three beers tonight (1 bought by Kevin) before returning home. Robin at #2 has been cooking and has made a delectable Thai / Indian mutton curry which is absolutely gorgeous to eat, with the meat simply 'melting' off the bone and washed down with a dilute 'Master Blend' (75 baht for 30cl) and soda water with plenty of ice.

Of the two curries on offer tonight, I'd have to cast my vote with Robin (sorry Chef!)

Expenditure :

Bus fares : 217 baht
Taxi fares : 400 baht
Water & Chicken with rice : 65 baht
Noi's Bar : 120 baht