First off, how many flights have you ever been on that were an hour and 20 minutes long where you got a hot meal, 2 beverage services and it only cost you $30?!?!!? None, that is how many, none! Bangkok airways is a pleasure to fly and the BKK airport (BKK #1 according to our CRAZY cab driver) is super clean and easy to navigate. Let’s start with the cab ride on the way to the airport as it needs to be mentioned how INSANE people drive here. At one point we are literally going down the side of the freeway dodging cars in and out at about 55 mph! As I am trying not to lose my lunch, I look around and notice that there are trucks all over the highway that have 5-10 people hanging out of the open truck bed (some even sleeping!) as we zip around this crazy nonsense. Apparently this is standard practice even if it will scare the CRAP out of you! One thing also to notice is the billboards- they are about 100 feet long and 30 feet high- MASSIVE and take up most of the landscape when you pass them. On one side of the road you might see skyscrapers and new buildings while on the other side of the road you will see traditional homes or poverty type areas. It truly is a giant contradiction and not at all symmetrical but it just makes sense.
Obviously we made it safe to the airport or I would be writing this blog from the hospital bed in more detail- HA! The check ins here are a little different than what we see in the US- you drop your bags and check in at an assigned area (the airlines all switch areas so don’t expect to see “Delta”/”American”/”Frontier” type counters. Look at the screen when you arrive and it will tell you the area to go to to check in. You drop your bags there and walk through the Step 2 area which is where they just look at your passport and ticket to allow you into the terminal. The terminal is before the security check so you can get your coffee and food but remember to eat/drink it before you get to security. You will get your ID and ticket checked again before you go through the security line and BKK security was small but easy (not quite sure the metal detectors aren’t just for show here)… Heading to the gate we were followed by “The cleaning robot”- which seriously was awesome and yet very freaky- and why is it following us? How dirty are we?? 😛
The flight is nice, short, and like I said before you two beverage services and a hot meal before looking out your window at the golf of Thailand and seeing misty mountains; hillside houses; and blue blue water. The planes land off from the terminal so they take you from the plane to the the terminal by a trolley which reminds me of Disney. The terminal is all open air and there are trees growing inside- TREES IN THE AIRPORT?? I want to live here now!
At this point after getting our luggage, we are greeted by two nice women (Molly and Nong) who are from a local resort – Anatara (not where we are staying)- and want to sell us essentially a time share type deal. This type of thing is never appealing but they are offering us a free cab to our hotel and give us bottles of water if we will commit to seeing their presentation. We agree because hey, free stuff right? Who knows what this will actually be about.
The first glimpse at Samui at night is very dark. Not a ton of street lights on the airport road until you get into the little market areas where you can see vendors selling food/clothes/etc at all hours of the night. The cab driver drops us off at our hotel, staying at The B House, and a nice guy greets us at the door to get us checked in. Even though we can’t see the ocean in this darkness, you can hear it and it sounds like a lullaby. Our hotel is kind of U shaped with the pool in the center open to the ocean. We are on the top level of 2 with the end room with an unobstructed view of the sea. There is a massive private patio with wrap around sliding doors that leads into our boutique type room.
Just can’t wait to wake up in the morning and see what that looks like in the sunshine…
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