We are catching the overnight sleeper to Bangkok this evening so our last day is taken up with with packing up our belongings, checking out and a few other chores. We re-visit the immigration office to extend our visa before we leave as we want to avoid having to do it in Bangkok. We arrive just before lunch and manage to submit our application complete with photocopied passport (there is a little cafe round the back that does photocopying for 8 Baht (38p) ) and photos before the office closes for lunch. An announcement proclaims that the office will be closed until one o’clock and we settle down for an hour’s wait. Happily it turns out the office is continuing to process submitted applications and within 15 minutes we have our passports returned stamped for a further seven days. After lunch we make our last trip to what has become our second home here – the internet cafe. One of our tenants back in London has given notice to leave and we are trying to organise an agent to take on the re-letting. Fortunately we had built up a good relationship with an agent before we left on our trip and now that the holiday is over, an email has arrived to confirm that everything is hand and two viewings have already been set up.
We are sad to leave Gap’s House; we have enjoyed the spacious rooms (we were in a different room last night on our return from our trek) with armchairs and a good selection of furniture. It’s been a joy to sit in the midst of the gloriously jungly garden eating the best breakfast (an opinion not shared by Andy) in south-east Asia (fresh toast and marmalade, eggs and pineapple) with low-level jazz playing in the background and sunlight filtering through the foliage. For these pleasures, it’s possible to overlook the minor downsides: temperamental showers, the paper-thin walls and a high concentration of mosquitoes. A little oasis in the middle of the city.
The overnight sleepers in Thailand don’t have 4-berth compartments so we have had to settle for berths in an open carriage. At the start of the journey the carriage looks much like any normal seated carriage with pairs of facing bench seats and a central aisle. Despite our initial concerns, there is ample luggage storage and our rucksacks are safely stowed under the seats. Around 9pm the carriage attendant appears to set up the sleeping arrangements. The bench seats open out to make a wide bottom berth whilst the upper berth folds down revealing the padded bed mats, clean linen and pillows for both berths. A curtain drawn across the berth completes the arrangement and provides an element of privacy. We have been allocated berths in the middle of a large and gregarious party of mostly middle-aged Dutch tourists and we are bracing ourselves for a noisy night. But everyone is quietly tucked -in by about 10.30pm – we’ve been in noisier 4-berth sleeper compartments!