Thailand From the Window of a Bus

My adventures in Bangkok finally came to a close at the end of the second day and, instead of staying another sweaty night in a guesthouse, we decided to do the overnight bus to our next destination. "Twelve hours to Krabi and another one to Ko Phi Phi (in the south of Thailand" assured the suspiciously helpful travel agent woman. Without another option, we waited until 6pm and went to join the hordes of tattooed and dreadlocked backpackers waiting for the buses south. We got onto the bus, which proceeded to drive around the city for more than two hours and by the time we finally got on the road at half past 8, I was fast asleep.

I was jolted awake at 7am the next morning as the bus driver shouted for us to get off the bus as quickly as possible. "Grab your things and get off!! Go, go, go!!!" Fifteen disoriented and sleepy backpackers stumbled into the mud on the side of the road, our bags were thrown out and the bus sped away. Odd... We finally made our way to a gas station where we were to wait for our taxis to the next bus for the next stage of our journey. I was still slightly miffed at our rude awakening when the first girl realized she'd been robbed. 9,000 Baht (around $100) had been taken out of her bag while she slept. Another girl lost a camera and a third guy was missing money as well. A hurried check revealed that Nathan and I had all our valuables intact, but we were in the minority. The fast wake up and the quick getaway, it turns out, were just ways of ensuring that no one would realize what had happened until it was far to late to do anything. Disappointing...

Fully awake, I rather belatedly realized I wasn't where I was planning on going, or even close, really. However, the subsequent bus ride through some of the poorer parts of Thailand was really quite interesting. It was another opportunity to watch Thais in action, especially at school. We drove by school after school where uniformed children stood at stiff attention as the flag was raised and the song to the king was sung. Every town, no matter how tiny, poor and insignificant, had a well made and new looking school, although there was no AC and all the doors were wide open. I can't imagine trying to learn multiplication in such sweltering heat, but they were in there doing the best they could, I'm sure! Anyway, I made it to Ko Phi Phi at 4:30pm, a full 22.5 hours after we set out. Oh well, better late than never!

Last thought before I retire to my bed bug infested bungalow for the night: Thai roads are about 100x better than Russian roads. I find this surprising.

So, good night, I'll sleep tight, but the bed bugs will be having a feast tonight.

Next time I have internet: Ko Phi Phi!