Traveling in Thailand has its eases and difficulties. The bus and train systems can get you just about anywhere, all forms of transportation are cheap by western standards, and you can hire a tuk-tuk or taxi at any hour of the day. Some disadvantages are the lack of precise timetables, commonly selling more tickets than there are seats on a bus, and drivers who combine a passenger route with their own personal errand run. Getting to your final destination is almost certain, but the time frame is a gamble. I have found the best approach is to leave plenty of time for traveling, and have back-up plans.
This past weekend I traveled by bus (in addition to motorbike, pickup truck and boat ferry) to Koh Chang, an island in the south-east of Thailand. A big group of friends from teacher orientation that I hadn’t seen for a few months were spending new years on the island and I wanted to join. The majority of the group lives far closer to the island than me, so I knew I would spend the first half of my trip solo. No big deal, done it before. And I would do this trip again. Although the following recount appears long and irritating, I found the whole process to be a funny experience in traveling. My trip started on a Friday evening after I left work.
6:30pm- Rode my bicycle to the bus terminal in Tak and bought a 7pm bus ticket to Bangkok.
7:00pm- Waited at the bus terminal.
7:30pm- My bus arrived at the terminal. I made sure to be first in line since on a previous trip I had to stand in the aisle with my bag between my feet for the first hour.
7:45pm- My bus departed the bus terminal. We spent 15 minutes sitting on the bus watching the driver smoke cigarettes.
1:30am- My bus arrived at Mo Chit bus station in Bangkok. Before I could even place both feet down on the pavement I was offered taxi rides from 5 drivers pushing and shoving each other to be closest to the bus door.
1:31am- I hired a taxi to drive me to the train station.
1:40am- I found out the trains don’t start service until 6am. So much for that plan.
1:45am- I hired a motorbike to drive me to Khao San road. The 24 hour, budget backpacker hangout/party street.
1:50am- I had planned to meet my friend Mike at some point so I gave him a call. No point in looking for a place to sleep, beer is cheaper.
2:00am- Mike met me at a bar on Khao San road. We had nothing to occupy our time besides beer and pad thai.
5:45am- Mike and I finished our last beers and took a taxi to the airport. The airport is where we can hop on an “express” mini-bus to Koh Chang. Tickets are not sold until one hour before the scheduled mini-bus departure time. We wanted to take the first mini-bus route of the day, which the website listed as a 7:30am departure time. The website also suggested arriving early during the holiday season in case of long lines.
6:15am- At the mini-bus ticket counter, there is no line.
6:30am- We bought our mini-bus tickets and headed to a food court.
7:30am- We were informed that our bus would be leaving at 7:50am.
7:50am- We got on our bus. The website told me the bus would be a 9 passenger van, but we were sitting on a 70 passenger bus. This will not be an express route.
8:00am- Our bus left the airport in Bangkok.
11:00am- We stopped for lunch.
12:30pm- We stopped somewhere.
1:45pm- We stopped at another somewhere.
2:45pm- Our bus arrived at the pier on the mainland. The website told me our express mini-bus would drive directly onto the ferry, and then drop us off at our hostel. Instead, our driver opened the door and said “Get out”. We got out.
3:15pm- We boarded the ferry on foot, and it started its path across the sea to Koh Chang.
4:00pm- The ferry completed its 1 kilometer journey in a speedy 45 minutes, and we were finally on Koh Chang. However, the ferry took us to the north end of the island, and our friends were staying at the south end of the island. A backpacker region named Lonely Beach. One more taxi was needed.
4:02pm- We sat in the back of a songteau. It is a pickup truck with two bench seats in the back and rails to hold onto.
4:45pm- The songteau pulled over on the side of the road. The driver told us that our place was 100 meters up the road, and that we needed to walk the final portion.
5:00pm- We finished walking what felt curiously longer than 100 meters, and were finally at our hostel. I was met with a running hug from Laura, another one of my friends whom I haven’t seen in a few months. All was finally well.
After all of that, my holiday on the island went pretty straight-forward. Koh Chang had everything I expected from a tropical island.
I swam in the saltiest water I have ever tasted, with a salinity content so high that we didn’t need to use fins to stay afloat while snorkeling.
I slept one night on a wooden platform in the backroom of a bar/tattoo parlor. A thin pad had been set on the wood to soften it a bit. It was big enough for one person (provided they were shorter than 5’5”), but of course I had to share the space with my buddy Mike. We didn’t book a second night.
I stayed at a bamboo hostel/bar (all buildings are multi-purpose there) owned by a Thai hippie named Tom. He had a long grey beard, loved blues-rock, and drank whiskey with breakfast.
I went to a bar called Ting Tong, which has become my bit of nirvana in this world. Go to Koh Chang and you will agree.
I jumped a flaming jump rope on the beach. Since I received only a minor burn on my ankle I was considered lucky compared to most other jumpers.
I watched my friends get bamboo tattoos while their tattoo artist drank beer.
I rang in the New Year at a beach rave with great friends.
And on January 1st, I did the whole trip in reverse to get back home.
The Journey of Andrew Cassidy 