Thai Rhapsody. Prelude
Thailand has been beckoning for a long time. Beckoned and scared away at the same time. Beckoned by the beauty and abundance of fruits. But he scared me away with insane prices for tours. Yes, even a visa + queues at the airport to obtain it. I had to be content with cheaper Goa and Sri Lanka.
But now the hour has struck. Tai canceled visas for Ukrainians. And in Sri Lanka, which I fell in love with for the third time, there were terrorist attacks.
“I understand, this is a hint, I catch everything on the fly... ” (c).
It means it's time to expand your horizons.
Crushing my toad, I bought expensive tickets from the Qataris. 5 months before travel. This resulted in me almost 22 thousand hryvnias per person round trip (somewhere almost 800 bucks). There was a cheaper and direct flight with UIA, but I already had experience with them, so I didn’t fall for it (and I did it right).
And I decided to fly to Krabi. After reading a bunch of reviews, I realized that no Phuket and Pattaya attract me at all. And in Krabi, judging by the pictures, absolutely amazing nature.
The hotel decided not to book. Booking offered absolutely sucky options for big money. Cheaper than thirty for a room, I have not seen. And with other resources specializing in Asia, I have not yet dealt with. And they immediately wanted money. In short, I decided that we would find everything perfectly on the spot. There was experience. But, as before, I looked at a couple of options on the same resources.
This year we again had to take our friend Verka with us. But in order to avoid domestic conflicts, I decided to settle her separately (if possible) and split the budget. Let him eat what he wants and where he wants.
I had to tinker with train tickets to Kyiv. Recently, we have an innovation - a train, tickets for which began to be sold as much as 45 days in advance and were obscenely expensive. Twice as expensive as usual. There was also another one that did not suit us categorically in terms of arrival time, but it was perfectly suitable for the price. And for some reason, tickets for it were sold in just a month. That is, at first expensive tickets were sold, and only then - budget tickets.
A few days before departure, I found another train arriving in Kyiv an hour later than ours, but, in principle, also suitable for us. And even the places in it have not yet been sold out. I was rushing to buy tickets for it and turn in the expensive ones, saving a whole thousand hryvnias. But I didn't have enough money on my card. And I decided to leave it as it is. Yes, and my unfinished majors (Verka and Vadik) strongly advised me to do this. Well, at least let's see what kind of a miracle train this is!
Here he is. In all white! Like for white people : ))
By the way, that tricky cheap train that arrives an hour later than ours, the major one, was marked on the station board as “by dates”. Usually they write - daily, well, or "even / o'clock". And here are the dates! What are these dates?
We went into the car. Cold, damn it! I got used to changing my clothes right away, because usually the car was already heated. The train did not have time to cool down after arriving from Kyiv. And in this miscarriage of progress, apparently, until we go, the heating system will not work.
Above the exit from the car, a ticker warned that drinking alcohol and gambling with unfamiliar fellow travelers could lead to "at". Then the horror story broke off. So we did not find out what should happen to us in case of violation of the rules.
We didn't intend to play, but it was high time to abuse it. Do you need to warm up somehow? In vain I poked a button with my finger, which should have regulated the temperature. Although she squeaked with each of my clicks, the number still remained "24". It felt like the temperature did not even reach 20. Having spit on this matter, they drank cognac. Fortunately, the fourth in the compartment has not yet sat down. He, or rather she, settled in Volnovakha. By this time, we had already managed to deal with both drinks and snacks. So they didn’t bother her in the least, nestling in their nooks and crannies.
At night, I felt very warm on the top shelf! There was no one to be shy in the compartment, and I slept in my shorts, without hiding. There was nothing to breathe. And then Verka, as usual, began to rustle with some bags. And where does she get them? Specially chooses posheburshachee? Until that moment, I still had doubts and thought about renting a 3-bed room on occasion. But after a sleepless midnight, I firmly decided: this will not happen! In the end, I'm going to rest food. The "rest" program is not easy for me, so a long night's sleep is extremely necessary for me. But Verka did not yet suspect a separate settlement. I could not find a convenient reason to inform her of my insidious plans.
We arrived in Kyiv one hour late. This time it was basically uncritical. But if we were so late in January, Voyage to Andorra would hardly took place! And why the hell, one wonders, do I need this luxury train if it does not fulfill its main mission - to deliver me to my destination on time? By the way, despite the declared temperature of 24, at night the car was heated up to 32. In the toilet, although it was vacuum, as it usually happens, the paper ran out by morning. And the conductor was as angry as a dog. The human factor!
Meanwhile, it was November 3rd. And on this significant day, Verka has a happy abyss. She, as usual, was going to drink champagne right in the morning, even before arriving in Kyiv. I had a hard time answering her. And it's not even in the wrong time for drinking - everything is in order here. We also drank at 6 in the morning for her health. But what would happen overnight to that unfortunate champagne in 30-degree heat? With a creak, but the voice of my bright (speckled) mind reached my girlfriend.
However, we did not have time to have breakfast in the Pot-bellied Hut. Having had a quick coffee at the station, we bought tickets for another miracle of Ukrzaliznytsia. This time we decided to get to Boryspil not by bus or taxi, but by rail. Tickets were a little cheaper than the bus - 80 hryvnia each (against 100). Purely for experimental purposes.
Here it is, a miracle!
And there is only one trailer! And the shelves above the seats are completely unsuitable for luggage! We had not very large backpacks, quite fitting into the standards of hand luggage of air carriers. But they just didn't fit on the shelf. The Germans sitting in front of us rode with huge crampons, which they placed right in the aisle for lack of another place. The conductor had to jump over them. But there was Wi-Fi in the car! Wow, how unexpected!
We drove not very fast, but confidently. Arrived on time. I had to walk to the terminal. Well, at least under some semblance of a roof. It didn't rain, but it was rather cloudy. And we were leaving the sun!
Verka didn't wait for a free airplane drink, but wanted a dutish one. We bought a plastic half-liter of Metaxa and some sugary, outrageously chocolate candies.
By the way, at check-in, on the sly from Verka, I asked how to congratulate her on the plane? I was told to address this issue to the crew.
- Do they do it in Russian?
- Fersteyut!
After Metaxa, even the mood was not as cloudy as the weather outside. And here is our airplane.
On landing, I whispered in the ear of the steward standing at the door that it would be nice to congratulate my friend. Not quite trusting her clumsy English, she repeated the wish to another stewardess girl, backing up Verka with a finger in the back.
Take off. They brought the menu. Oh, so much good stuff here! Here you have multi-colored wines with champagne, and Heineken with Dewars, and Baileys with Bloody Mary! What to choose?
And I really wanted someone's beer after Metaxa. And Verka never tried Baileys, but she chose him, having previously asked us what it was. And Vadik, like a true gentleman, sipped whiskey. True, clean. Happy birthday, Vera!
Oh, let's live like this! Before that, we flew only with some low-cost airlines.
After lunch, having made an unsuccessful attempt to deal with the complex entertainment equipment, taking advantage of the fact that the plane was half empty, I lay down on an empty row. However, I couldn't sleep. Some girl almost sat on my head! You see, she saw a friend sitting across the aisle from me, and in her joy she tried to put her F on the seat where she (my head) was lying. This cheered me up wildly. But I thought it best to move a little.
The unceremonious lady protrended with her friend for the rest of the flight, not stopping for a minute. I learned a lot about the production of dietary supplements for pigs, which this friend is trying to sell (so far unsuccessfully) to Korean farmers.
It would seem that everyone forgot about Verka's DR. But no! Before the descent, three flight attendants came and sang her a traditional song, bringing a tray with a glass of red wine, a glass of another Baileys, a vase of salty pretzels and a cool electric candle in a carved case. Verka was in seventh heaven! Both literally and figuratively.
Continued here >>>
