We woke up at 8am to do our least favorite activity: pack. I loathe packing and moving, so much so that we’ve decided this will be the last time we do it before we head home. Since Phuket is our last destination, and the island is about a one hour journey from top to bottom, we figure we can stay put at one hostel and just scooter when we need to.
Check out time is 10am so we had a quick breakfast and then it was off to the ferry. The ferry was at 12:30, or so they said, but we had to go one by one due to our not so practical mode of travel. B scootered me to the ferry with my bag (a 15 minute ride) then she headed back to the hostel for her bag, dropped it off with me at the port, returned the scooter, walked to the port and met me. The things we get done before noon are astonishing.
So we sat in the blistering heat from 11:30 to… Oh the ferry is an hour late, as always. A surprisingly smooth 3 hour ferry ride to the mainland and we arrived in Don Sak. Let me tell you about transport in Thailand, it is a fucking mad house. There is very little organization, a lot of yelling, and hundreds of people in panic mode. So we ran our asses off to the bus, not wanting to miss it or sit on the floor and made it in time. This is a one hour bus, the double decker sort, that we take to another town, Surat Thani. I didn’t think a bus could be shittier than that first bus we took but imagine that one then transport it back 20 years.
When we arrived in Surat Thani, it was complete chaos. They were shouting at us, “OFF THE BUS! NOW! FAST! HURRY! YOU WILL MISS YOUR BUS!” I felt like we arrived at Auschwitz and they realized I don’t have any skills. I ran to get our bags and B ran to the ticket office. They put the stickers on our shirts (all major transit is organized by stickers on your clothes) and we were off to find our bus.
After countless Thai people pointed in the direction of this giant double decker bus, we started moving that way, only to be stopped by a few more who pointed at a pick up truck in front of said bus. Entirely confused, we asked again and again… we threw our bags into the truck thinking that perhaps it is just transporting the luggage but when the Thai man clearly told us that we were to get in as well, that was that. A uncovered shortbox pick up transporting Me, B, three Italian men plus all of our baggage. It was a very tight fit and for all we knew, that was where we would be for the next five hours.
With the wind in our hair, we were just starting to get comfortable after ten minutes or so but suddenly we pulled over to a tour agency where we were told we would be for the next half an hour until our mini-bus arrived. They then extorted us for an additional 300 baht (about $10) to take us directly to our hostel instead of just dropping us off in butt fuck nowhere. Lovely, lovely.
When the mini-bus arrived, there were 14 passengers and 13 seats plus at least one bag of luggage per person. When we all didn’t fit, they told us all to get out and they pulled all of our luggage to the curb as well. Since I am a rational person, my first assumption was that they were going to get a different bus but naturally, I was wrong. After a 5 minute reorganization they managed to Jenga us all in there a bit more efficiently and we were off. Incredibly squished, but on our way.
When we got to Phuket in the middle of the night, our driver had no idea where our hostel was. He said he was going to drop us off at a mall and we could get a taxi from there. Hell no. I didn’t get extorted for nothing, sir! We made him drive around aimlessly and stop for us to try and find maps, to try and get net connection, to ask countless taxi drivers. Eventually we found it though and it is a beaut!
What a great way to finish off the trip. Our hostel is the most like a hotel we’ve been in so far. The bed is huge, there is a wardrobe for clothes, a vanity, a real shower, water that actually gets hot, multiple towels, a mini-fridge and wait for it… My absolute favorite, HAND SOAP! This is the first place to have hand soap since our very first hostel in Bangkok. It may not sound like much but when you had to flush the last toilet you peed in by pouring a ladle full of water into it, you really appreciate the little things.
So we woke up this morning feeling good about life and exploring Phuket. We rented a scooter, found the beach (which is extremely packed but we are going to find another one soon!) and the mall. It seems like after a long day of travel, we need western comforts. We had pizza and ice cream for our Valentine’s meal today and it was fantastic.
Driving here was an insane adventure. It is reminiscent of driving in downtown Vancouver right after a hockey game lets out. The amount of people is insane and the roads are filled with scooters. I’m glad B is a great driver because if it was me behind the wheel, well we’d be staying home.
S.
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