Onwards to Thailand
Trip Start
May 03, 2006
1
19
48
Trip End
Ongoing
Ko Phangan,
Thailand
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
(Diary) '...Finally left Langkawi, very much a relaxing week and a bit - may have gone a bit over budget with accommodation and eating. Plan is to try to get to Ko Phangan and hopefully hook up with some old friends from England, it's one of the islands in the southern gulf of Thailand, neighbouring Ko Samu being the most famous. Took a morning ferry to Satun in Thailand, around an hour in duration, felt a little quesy at one point had to go up on deck and look striaght ahead - chatted to some Thai folk who were on holiday from the army - they wanted me to take photos of them. Immigration was simple enough - filled in a form and bang, another stamp in my passport - welcome to Thailand. Port was twenty mins away from the town had to fork out for a taxi after I had changed up some Ringitt for some Thai Baht. Immediately after I was dropped in Satun it was obvious I was in a world far removed from Malaysia, it was generally messier and no one spoke english (not that I expect them to - but it does help)
01 Jenni
. Had to somehow get to a central inland town/city by the name of Hat Yai from where I would continue to Surat Thani further up on the west coast. Would have been nice to have some sort of guide book - I'd already come up through Malaysia without one.Hung around a bus stop for a short while before noticing a mini-van pick up/station nearby - strolled down and bought a ticket to Hat Yoi - once the mini-van is full (nine people) they take off. Didn't have to wait long - and we sped off. Very cramped and hot. Driver had a nervous twitch and kept violently twisting his neck and by doing so took his eyes of the road - he drove fast and so for the next two hours I silently prayed.
Got chucked out of the van somewhere in Hat Yai - I had no idea where. Since it was getting on in the day I decided to spend a night and move on the next morning. It was obvious I wasn't in the centre and so I started to ask around how I could get there - I figured the centre would have a few hotels and travel places. Initially no-one could understand what I was blabbering on about and for the first time this tour there was a brief moment where I just stood wondering what on earth to do! I tried again, asking this time in a slower and louder voice - it did the I hopped on some motorbike taxi - my kit between the drivers legs, myself perched on the back and we zoomed into town proper. A couple of big malls, a lot of clothes shops, a few travel agencies and a McDonalds indicated that I had finally got to where I wanted to go - I staggered from the motorbike and convientely found a cheap hotel with A/C for around 400 baht.
I sorted out my onward travel for the following day, another mini-van ride, five hours to the Surat Thani from where I could catch a ferry to Ko Phangan
02 Rob
. Had a walk round a few streets, ate at some food stall and got freaked out by a group of 'lady-boys' who were hanging around on some corner as I walked back to my hotel. Funny place Thailand!Saturday 12th August '06
(Diary) '...Got a wake up call from my travel agent just after 8am - I was awake anyway and I wondered how on earth he'd got my number - anyways up and out and jumped into the packed van around 9am. I was sat next to two french girls from Lyon - they told me they had been working in Taiwan as part of an industrial placement for their studies, for a couple of months they couldn't understand a word anybody said and ended up using sign language! Behind us sat two brothers from Austria - they had visited some friends further south and were returning to Ko Samu and their family, I think they had a house on the island and returned for a couple of months every summer. The rest of the van consisted of locals. Journey was uneventful - shortly after 2pm we were dumped outside some dubious looking travel agency in the suburbs of Surat Thani, I was under the impression that I would be taken to the port - but apparently the port was called Donsak pier and was an hour away - I had little choice but to buy both a bus ticket and a ferry ticket from the agency - it annoyed me big style - the staff were rude and unhelpful - this drop-off was obviously part of a little racket.
After buying our tickets we then had to knock around for an hour or so until we were driven by pick-up truck to another agency, then another wait for a bus that took us to the pier. An aussie guy sat next to me and the hour journey was taken up talking cricket and rugby. Arriving at the pier my worst fears were confirmed - a bunch of 'Thai-travellers' with attitude silently hung around, the type of folk who would spend serious time trying to conjure up that 'messy but neat look'. The ferry was due to depart at 18.30 - but it was half an hour later that the ruskbucket docked and we were permitted to get on. Journey was around two and half hours - more cricket and rugby talk with the aussie, he'd been on a large tour including Europe and was now in his final week or so before returning home, an genuinely good bloke - we agreed to meet up in Melbourne for the Boxing Day test (cricket). Arriving at our destination I was half tempted to go with the french girls and the aussie to some resort on the island - but I had explained to them that it was better off me staying here at the port town (Thong Sala ) since I had no idea where my friends from England were staying yet - so we said our farwells and I strolled off to a nearby hotel and checked in.
Staff at the hotel were surly, I immediately went out for something to eat and had noodles at some food stall. Returning to the hotel I got annoyed with sme Swedish joker who was hogging the internet and I went to bed with mixed feelings about this country. It may have been tiredness but I couldn't help thinking what a joke these islands were and how I was firmly on the psuedo 'backpackers' trail. I was also pretty miffed with the attitude of the locals. Night...'
(Summary) For the next couple of days I stayed in Thong Sala, I changed hotels to a cheaper one, it was the smallest room I had ever stayed in, I had to clamber over the bed to get to the toilet. It seemed logical to wait here until Rob and Jenni arrived and then hook up with them at whatever place they had decided to go to. I had arrived a day earlier than the agreed date but the following day I checked my email, they had arrived and had been whizzed off to Ao Chalok Lam, I'd try to get there the following morning. The transport on the island basically consisted of open-air pick-up trucks that waited around the port and so one would have to wait until a ferry docked before jumping in, hopefullyit would be filled to ensure one didn't pay too much for the trip.
The evening before I left to meet up I got extremely hacked off, I had gone into some internet place and hadn't been able to use the internet probably due to a virus on the system - I explained this to the lady who when I entered was all smiles - but her facade soon faded and she literally began screaming at me for money - a minumum fee of 20 baht even though I had hardly been able to log on. I stared at her in disbelief thinking to myself how far removed we were from each other - quite a different race altogether. I paid, span around and got the hell out.
Later I went into a bookshop, a largish place - I was looking for some guidebook to Thailand and rather spend time searcing all the shelves went up to the counter for assistance - the first lady looked at me with shock as I approached and ran off, then a man appeared, no expression on his face and said 'yes?'. I asked if they had any old Thai guides - (jesus, a simple enough, common enough request surely) he simply replied 'you look' - I said I'd had a brief search but would there be section where such a book could be found, he started getting agitated and said 'no'. I looked at this guy and calmly told him how ever so helpful he had been, span around and got the hell out.
Tuesday 15th August '06
(Diary) Up and out and down to the port - waited for a ferry to come and in and hopped in a pick-up truck to Ao Chalok Lam - it had been raining, it was still raining and after ten minutes the paved road ended and we driving on mud tracks, they were churned up, full of potholes and slippy - it was actually quite dangerous. We somehow made it though the hilly, densely wooded interior and descended steeply into the 'resort'. I jumoed out the bungalows where R & J were staying sat inthe restaurant, ordered an ice-coffee and started to write up my diary. After ten minutes I heard someone say 'RGW' I turned around and there they were! I hadn't seen them for almost two years, but it may as well have been only two days - it was brilliant to meet up - especially after having been on the road for a few months - it was so good to see someone familiar. I checked into the same place, we chatted, went for a stroll along the beach, had a clamber around the rocks, went for a dip, J and I chucked sand at R - I stayed upwind for long distance accuracy, then we went back to the huts and played scrabble. I led for a while but J pulled out a 35 scoring word near the end and won the game!
Had a meal further down the beach in the evening and then a beer at some beach bar on the way back. The place was nice enough put it had been raining most of the day and there was a small fishing fleet out in the bay, I wondered how clean the water was. The scene was just as I had imagined such Thai coastal island resorts to be like - full of wannabee hedonists on their two week holiday, the funny thing was - they all looked the same, the aviator sunglasses, some well thought out ethnic touch ( I dunno maybe some beads, a rag tied round the head or some other minor hippy-dippy item of clothing) and that well groomed unkept 'look'.
We decided to move on the next day to another bay on the island...'
