A short but expensive stop!!

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Leaving Thailand was hard to do. I could have quite easily stayed on the beach for a lot longer. I got a taxi from the beach huts to Samui Airport. After pulling off the main road I wondered whether In needed to have hired a 4x4 as the tarmac turned quickly into a gravel track. Visions of what was going to be at the end of this track started to fly through my mind. I'd never been to an airport that didn't have a tarmac road leading to it.
We eventually reached the airport and I was met by nothing more than a collection of Bamboo and straw huts. There was a little hut on the entrace where a security guard sat drinking a bottle of beer so I can't imagine he would be much use.
Airports usually daunt me with endless check -in desks, terminals and shops. This one was easy. One hut for domestic departures and one for international departures. I made my way to hut number 2 and sat in the waiting area trying to make sense of how it worked here. The entire check-in, security check and boarding check all seemed to be woven into one process that took less than 2 minutes to complete.
Once into the 'secure' departures lounge it was clear that security had not filtered down to this airport yet. In any other airport once passing security its impossible to pass back through. Here there was a small knee high plinth that boardered the open air departure lounge to the car park that i had arrived in a few minutes ago. I quick hop and i could be back in thailand or more shockingly a quick hop the other way and you could leave thiland without any need for documents or even an air ticket.

The airport was also totally without security camera, police or any other form of protection. Now while i can see no reason that anyone would want to blow up this airport (infact dropping a fag could probably burn the place to the ground in a few minutes anyway), considering how easy it is to board an aircraft here, its the desination airport that could quite easily be hit.
So for future terrorist use if you need to take over a plane Samui airport is the place to go!

Despite the lack of anything in the airport I made it very easily to Singapore airport which is like any big city airport - massive.

Unlike Thiland they don't seem to care who enters their country as it took just seconds to get through compared with over half hour in Thailand.

For $7 you can get a shuttle bus that takes up to 6 people directly to their hotels or for $15 you can get your own taxi. I went for the shuttle bus, I should have paid the extra and got the taxi.
All the hotels are packed quite close together in the city but it seemed that this driver must have been standing in for the day as we went round and round in circles. My guide book said it should take 25 minutes from the airport to the hotel - it took 1 1/2 hours!!
At least I got a tour of the city, which is the cleanest city I have ever been in.

Once at the hotel I settled into a very nice room and although tired decided that I could not waste my time here so i went out to explore. By now I had exhausted the small amount of money I had brought with me and needed to find an ATM. In Thailand they are everywhere. If you stand at one you can see another and so on. I walked for nearly 2 hours and didn't find one.

I decided that the best way to see some of the city was to book a tour otherwise I would end up walking round and round and seeing nothing.
The tour started at 8am in the morning so there was not much chance to catch up on any sleep.

There were only two other people on the tour which was really good. Our first stop was Waterloo Street and a vist to a Chinese Kwan Imm Temple and then to a Hindu Sri Krishna Temple. We then went onto Arab Street to see the Sultan Mosque. Here they took offence to my shorts and t-shirt and asked me to wear a horrible green lab coat. It seems that Singapore is populated by everyone except the native people of Singapore.
We then went to Little India, the heartland of the Indian Community and enjoyed some 'roti prata'. A crispy South Indian pancake. We also had traditional Indian Tea.
Finally we moved on to China Town and were taught the art of drinking Chinese Tea. The Chinese make a big deal about drinking their tea and to be honest with the amount of tea I used to drink I really could't be bothered with the process. Once was enough.
After sampling their teas we were shown to the tea shop in the hope we would buy large amounts of expensive tea. I don't think they understood when I treid to explain that I had another five months of travelling and had already run out of space in my bag.

The tour was over by 12.30 so I decided to hit the streets anyway and explore. The temperature had now reached 37 degrees which is not ideal for a trip around the city on foot but I did it anyway. I have got used to the heat now. If it hot above 30 in England we would all complain and stay in the shade. Not here.

Singapore it full of expensive hotels and expensive shops. You would need a fortune to spend any length of time here, and coming from Thiland it make it even more expensive. A bottle of beer in Thiland was costing about 40p the same bottle of beer in Singapore cost nearly 4pounds.
Mineral water in a 7Eleven in Thailand was 11p a bottle, the same water in the same store in Singapore was 1pound 32p

I am now getting ready to head to New Zealand. I have a lot of travelling ahead. I'm leaving Sinapore at 8pm and arriving in Sydney at 6.30am. Stopping there for a couple of hours and then heading on to Christchurch.

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Comments

[barry]

jealous
it sounds like you have made the right decision matey ,so want to be there enjoy every moment mate speak soon