Back to Bangkok

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In our return journey to Bangkok, we took the 1^stclass VIP bus. Oooooooooooh. Getting back to the Phuket bus station was a bit of a challenge. We were standing on the main drag to catch the bus, but unfortunately, we were just north of where it turned, and thus couldn’t catch it. According to the hostel staff, buses run “approximately every 20-30 minutes until 5 or 6pm”. Not entirely helpful. Our bus to Bangkok left at 7pm, and we knew that it was about a half hour drive by tuk-tuk to the bus station. When we missed our bus at 5:35, we waited until just before 6pm before deciding to hail a cab. We were able to negotiate our fare down to the lower end of what the hostel staff said we should pay, and we ended up traveling in an air conditioned car rather than a tuk-tuk this time.

Anyways, the VIP bus. From the outside, it looked identical to the second class bus we took from Bangkok to Phuket. However, inside, we learned that the seats were actually quite spacious (what I imagine a business class seat on a plane would be like). There was a lot more leg room (part of that was probably because we were sitting at the very front). There weren’t any Thai movies broadcasted this time, but that’s okay.

We stopped around 11pm for a rest stop. The restrooms were much nicer than at the rest stop on our way to Phuket. We were also given a full meal in the VIP seating area. We sat at a marble table with two other passengers, with several dishes of Thai food. It was like a mix between a picnic and a holiday dinner, with us all passing the dishes around. The other two passengers didn’t speak English and we didn’t speak Thai, but we managed just fine. They were very nice.

I didn’t sleep too much on this ride unfortunately. I couldn’t get comfortable, even though we had larger seats. With how the seats reclined, I couldn’t quite reach the bar in front of me, so my legs were dangling. At the end of the ride, we were greeted with calm music, rather than the loud, obnoxious Thai pop we had blasting on the speakers as we arrived in Phuket.

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Photos

VIP Seating
A view of the seat across the aisle from us. Lots of space to curl up, a blanket, and a slightly reclining chair.

VIP Dining
We had a delicious Thai meal at our rest stop.

VIP Sunrise
We had the opportunity to see a nice sunrise as we were approaching Bangkok.

VIP Terminal
Okay...not so much, but it definitely felt good to get off that bus!