We started our day 3 hours after last night ended. We wanted to give ourselves enough time to organize the trip to the full moon party. Our destination was the Mai Tai bus station, a 15 minute drive from our hostel. From there we planned on buying an overnight bus and ferry to get us to Ko Phongan. When we exited our hostel Kao Shan road had morphed in order to accomodate our new needs. The madness that lined the streets the previous night was reduced to a group of taxis and Tuk Tuks jockeying for our attention.
After convincing a taxi driver that it was the bus station we wanted to go to and not the tourist trap paying him comission we got in the taxi. We arrived at the bus station confident we would be able to purchase our bus tickets and continue to the floating markets. A road block was reached when the bus to the island had 3 seats left. Since none of us were willing to sacrifice their trip to the full moon party for the rest of the group we searched for other options.
We knew that there was a flight which brought us where we needed to go. We didn’t know how much the tickets were, where the airport was, or if there was space on the flight. Our best airplane hand gestured failed to answer these questions. We turned to a higher force who we the members of Generation X turn to when no one understands us, Google. After a 45 minute inservice with the 7/11 lady I got a Thai SIM card and access to the Internet. My brain was fried after spending close to an hour trying to use hand signals and different combinations of words to describe electronic terms. I handed my phone over to Eric who was able to find us an affordable flight for the next mourning.
Next on our agenda was getting ourselves two hours outside of Bangkok to the floating markets. The group elected Tyler as the lead for this mission. After the language hurdles we had to jump through for the bus ticket we prepared ourselves for the impending game of charades and broken english.
Within 15 minutes of us deciding to go to the floating market we were on a bus heading to our destination. It was quite comical how easy Tyler was able to get us going where we needed after all the problems we previously ran into.
The bus ride took us outside the city and we were able to get our first glimpses of Thailand outside of Bangkok. We saw beautiful ornate temples, lush green forests and a family of 4 on a motorbike. Once we arrived we traded our bus in for a boat in order to explore the markets.
We meandered through a river of boats and stalls with everything you never needed and somethings you maybe wanted. It was a bizarre experience. Our driver pulled us up to a boat or stall and the shop keeper would wave trinkets and shirts at us. My typical evasion technique of walking away when I don’t want to buy something being waved in my face was no longer an option. At the first stall we docked at I instantly caved. Partly because I wasn’t sure if our driver would move the boat until we made a purchase but mostly because I spotted a elephant that my Grandmother would like. In my haste I forgot about the power of haggling and payed 4 times the reasonable price for the elephant. But if school has taught me anything about economics the elephant is more valuable because I paid more for it.
After a few stops we started to get the hang of shopping on a river. We turned our heads when we were no longer interested in buying something and punched half the price into calculators before we bought an item.
The boat brought us back to where we arrived and we were pointed towards a coffee shop in order to purchase our return tickets. The clerk explained to us he could organize a smaller, quicker and more expensive bus to return us to Bangkok or we could walk 4km to return on the bus we came. We decided to return the way we came. We felt like authentic backpackers walking the roads in search of our bus station with a crudely drawn map and vague instructions about a 7/11.
We spotted a 7/11 and thanks to a few locals we were shown where to wait. After 50 minutes the bus arrived and took us back to the bus station in Bangkok.
A frimly planted ground market had formed at the bus station. Not willing to tempt ourselves with more space filling purchases we made our way towards the food stands. It was a relaxing way to end the day. The bus station which had given us so much frustration earlier seemed to be apologizing to us with a delicious meal and helpful workers.
While eating we looked up hostels near the airport. We found one which seemed to be suitable, wrote down the address and showed it to a taxi driver. He seemed very confused and didn’t understand anything we were saying. Despite getting head shakes to my clarifying questions he started driving. Eventually we were dropped off at a very expensive hotel which was not the one we found online. We weren’t confident that our previous strategy of walking into a place like we had been there before would work in a hotel room. The hotel clerk was kind enough to call a taxi to the correct hostel. After promising the clerk we would return when we had the money we were off. We arrived at the correct hostel exhausted from the events of the day. Although things didn’t go the way we planned we couldn’t have planned the amazing experiences we had today. That concludes our first 24 hours in Thailand. I’m looking forward to another 52 days of unexpected adventure.
martyatsea 