Day 41 – Pai to Bangkok

Today was the final day of our short stay in Pai. It is definitely somewhere we want to come back to. As we waited at our accommodation Pril Pai Guesthouse for the pick up by the bus company, we started getting worried as it was 10 minutes past the pick up time. The Guesthouse owner was out working at this time and helped us by calling the bus company. They told him the pick up driver was on the way.

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After another 10 minutes a sedan rocked up and the driver took our bags. As soon as we got into the car he was very apologetic, as he had slept in. We arrived at the bus stop, and were hurried into the waiting van. The van had only one other person in it. As soon as we were in it, it took off for Chiang Mai.

The bus stopped at the same place that we had bought the rotten bananas from. We decided to give the place a miss. Once we got to the Chiang Mai bus terminal it was around 10am. From there we walked into the main terminal and asked around for some tickets to Bangkok. A lot of the places were selling the overpriced VIP service, which we refused. With the standard service there was some price difference between the counters so it was worth walking around.

We bought some tickets and we went to check out the terminal before having an early lunch. Once we got to the platform, we were asked a few questions and then told that the ticket was not valid and to wait for a supervisor. The supervisor, was fluent in English and told us that the counter had sold us a voucher that can be used in the future, but not today. However, he was happy to help us and converted the voucher into a valid ticket for the bus we wanted.

The rest of the ride went without incident. The double decker bus was comfortable and clean. There were several breaks along the way. We bought dinner from one of these spots. Once we got to the Bangkok Mo Chit Bus Terminal it was around 11pm. Once getting of the bus we were approached by a taxi driver. The first thing I asked was if he had a metered cab, which he said yes. After going through the hassle of showing him the hotel address and him asking some of the other drivers where it was, he told us it would be 500 Baht / $20.75 AUD. We just walked away without a word.

At the bus stop, there is a taxi rank, with plenty of taxis just waiting. We went there and showed the driver the address, and he turned the meter on and we were at the Baron Zotel (its actually a ‘Z’) Bangkok for only 127 Baht / $5.27AUD.

After our 15 hours of travel time from Pai to Bangkok, the hotel room was splendid. The room was quite large and the bathroom was massive also. The bathroom had windows into the bed room, which I guess is fancy. Oblivious to all the rooms features we just had showers and hit the hay as soon as possible.

We booked the place through Agoda.com as it was cheapest there and due to the 24 hour service desk, as we had no idea what time we would reach Bangkok.