We arrived in the morning and are meeting up with Matt & Ali, who don't arrive until late this evening. So Jacob and I decided to head to the hotel and see if we are able to check in. When we got to the taxi rank, we realized that the language barrier is going to be a bit bigger than anticipated, and I couldn't help feeling like I was in training for the Amazing Race. One thing that people had mentioned to me before coming to Thailand, and that this first taxi ride reaffirmed, is that you really do need to make sure the driver turns on the taxi meter. As we were leaving the airport he tried to agree a rate of ฿500 (Baht). Jacob and I were tired and almost agreed to it, but then insisted that the meter be turned on. In the end we only ended up paying around ฿340 (AKA £6.50 or $10.00) to get to our hotel.
We are staying at the Mandarin Hotel Managed by Centre Point. It's a nice hotel, with a spa and pool, but was also really inexpensive. I think we paid around £45/$70 per night. We are only staying here for one night this time, but will be back for the last night of our trip before we head home.
We were able to check in right away to freshen up from our travels. We pulled a big traveling "no-no" and took an afternoon nap...sometimes you just have to do it. We woke up around 3pm, feeling much more alive. We decided to go wander around our hotel's area and then I convinced Jacob that a massage was just the way to get over our jetlag. :)
We headed downstairs and booked in a 90 minute foot reflexology, hand, and neck and shoulder massage, all for £16/$25...I think I could get used to this!!!! The massage felt amazing, just what we needed to get ready for our Thai adventure!
After our massages we headed for dinner. We thought we were adventurous, so we headed over to a little street market we had walked past earlier. The area where our hotel is located isn't the most touristy area, so the market was pretty authentic. That being said...we quickly learned that neither of us are as adventurous as we would like to think...squid on a skewer isn't really my thing.
We eventually found a nice looking restaurant where we ordered an inexpensive meal (£17/$26) and got a TON of food. We shared a Pad Thai, Chicken Satay, a delicious soup called Tom Kha Gai ( which is basically a chicken soup with a coconut broth base), Stir Fy Chicken Noodles, and a delicious, fresh coconut with a straw stuck in it. Heaven.
We still had a few hours to kill before Matt and Ali (hopefully) arrived, so we went back up to the room to wait. They eventually made it...we chatted for a bit then headed off to sleep. This is going to be such a fun adventure, I can't wait!!
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