Day 12, Monday 30 October - Bangkok
Vietnamese hats and Chinese pots....... I wake early then down for free coffee and bread rolls and filling I brought from Savannakhet. I spend most of the morning uploading files and checking emails. Packed and ready for checkout, it's a case of waiting till evening now. I head for the Indo-China market on the riverbank. True to its name there are all sorts of imports from Laos, Vietnam and China. I pick up something toback take home. Time goes slowly and it's a hot afternoon. At 5pm I head back for the bus terminal.
From Beer Lao to Thai floods....... I watch the numerous services coming and going that criss-cross northern Thailand. Buses start to arrive for their overnight service. Mine appears around 7pm. It's a VIP service from Sahaphan Roi Et Tours. I'm expecting a good service in line with similar tours. What I don't expect is a massage. Well, they've decided to fit seats with vibrating back rests. That's new! However not long after I suffer from a sore butt! The bus heads west to Roi Et, Maha Sarakham and along Highway 23 before picking up the main Highway 2 that feeds the northeastern provinces. I'm awoken after midnight as the tour bus pulls into Nakhon Ratchiaima where free noodle soup is available. I do wonder how things will be in Bangkok given what I pick up from the media. Tiredness wins again and it's not until 5am that I wake once more. Left and right there is shimmering in the fractured light. We're certainly not on the highway. Headlights reveal the roadway serves as refuge to vehicles of all kinds. The bus picks its way through the debris and flood residues. A main road appears ahead as I peer into the darkness. Left is Bangkok, right is Ayutthaya. OK I have a point of reference. Highway 35 feeds into Highway 1 the main north artery out of Bangkok, assumed impassable. Well, the driver knows something I don't and presses on south. Highway 1 is passable with care and it's reduced to single lanes. As I peer out, I am presented with the biggest car park I've ever seen. Talking of car parks, the same applies to aircraft at Don Muang airport stranded for now as I gaze down at this new water feature from the unstaffed tollway. Finally at dawn this journey ends at Mochit Mai (Northern) bus terminal over 10 hours after leaving Mukdahan.
Vietnamese hats and Chinese pots....... I wake early then down for free coffee and bread rolls and filling I brought from Savannakhet. I spend most of the morning uploading files and checking emails. Packed and ready for checkout, it's a case of waiting till evening now. I head for the Indo-China market on the riverbank. True to its name there are all sorts of imports from Laos, Vietnam and China. I pick up something toback take home. Time goes slowly and it's a hot afternoon. At 5pm I head back for the bus terminal.
From Beer Lao to Thai floods....... I watch the numerous services coming and going that criss-cross northern Thailand. Buses start to arrive for their overnight service. Mine appears around 7pm. It's a VIP service from Sahaphan Roi Et Tours. I'm expecting a good service in line with similar tours. What I don't expect is a massage. Well, they've decided to fit seats with vibrating back rests. That's new! However not long after I suffer from a sore butt! The bus heads west to Roi Et, Maha Sarakham and along Highway 23 before picking up the main Highway 2 that feeds the northeastern provinces. I'm awoken after midnight as the tour bus pulls into Nakhon Ratchiaima where free noodle soup is available. I do wonder how things will be in Bangkok given what I pick up from the media. Tiredness wins again and it's not until 5am that I wake once more. Left and right there is shimmering in the fractured light. We're certainly not on the highway. Headlights reveal the roadway serves as refuge to vehicles of all kinds. The bus picks its way through the debris and flood residues. A main road appears ahead as I peer into the darkness. Left is Bangkok, right is Ayutthaya. OK I have a point of reference. Highway 35 feeds into Highway 1 the main north artery out of Bangkok, assumed impassable. Well, the driver knows something I don't and presses on south. Highway 1 is passable with care and it's reduced to single lanes. As I peer out, I am presented with the biggest car park I've ever seen. Talking of car parks, the same applies to aircraft at Don Muang airport stranded for now as I gaze down at this new water feature from the unstaffed tollway. Finally at dawn this journey ends at Mochit Mai (Northern) bus terminal over 10 hours after leaving Mukdahan.
Mukdahan Province
Indo-Chine Market, Mukdahan,
Mukdahan Province