Koh Phangan to Bangkok
[This entry was supposed to be up a LONG time ago, but I'll explain the delay later]
So we decided to leave Koh Phangan on the 26th to head to Bangkok. We caught a ferry just after noon, but we arrived at the last minute so the seats inside were almost all full. I decided to head up to the upper outside deck and chill there. I fell asleep after a bit but woke up some minutes later when it began to rain. Everyone else ran down to the inside, but I moved my stuff to a dry area and stayed up on the top deck just outside the wheelroom (not sure if that's correct terminology, but the room where the captain chills with the steering wheel).
There were three people in the captain's room: the captain and two other guys. One was reading the newspaper, the other was watching Thai women's volleyball on a TV set, and the captain was steering with both engines on full throttle, drinking a Singha beer.
We got to the mainland, and after a 1.5 hour bus ride arrived at the Suratthani train station. We bought tickets to Bangkok on an overnight train in the aircon sleeper carriage (we wanted no aircon, to save money and not be so cold, but they had no cheap seats left). I love sleeper cars in trains, but for some reason I didn't sleep much at all on this trip, so I was a bit grumpy in the morning.
Ron was in a more philosophical mood in the morning, as he pondered the meaning of life and the diverse and changing environments in which we constantly find ourselves on our travels.
Outside of central Bangkok the whole place is covered in slums, even all around the King's palace, within about 50 metres of the moat. It always makes us a bit sad, and as in past visits we discussed the differences between poverty in Vancouver and elsewhere.
Well, we caught a cab to Khao Sarn Rd (pronounced Cow-san road) which is basically the backpackers hub of Bangkok. After some walking around, we found ourselves a cheap enough place to stay and then...
I found $5.
And that's how I met Brad Pitt.
...To be continued next time (this time, it will really be in 2 or 3 days' time, seriously).
So we decided to leave Koh Phangan on the 26th to head to Bangkok. We caught a ferry just after noon, but we arrived at the last minute so the seats inside were almost all full. I decided to head up to the upper outside deck and chill there. I fell asleep after a bit but woke up some minutes later when it began to rain. Everyone else ran down to the inside, but I moved my stuff to a dry area and stayed up on the top deck just outside the wheelroom (not sure if that's correct terminology, but the room where the captain chills with the steering wheel).
There were three people in the captain's room: the captain and two other guys. One was reading the newspaper, the other was watching Thai women's volleyball on a TV set, and the captain was steering with both engines on full throttle, drinking a Singha beer.
We got to the mainland, and after a 1.5 hour bus ride arrived at the Suratthani train station. We bought tickets to Bangkok on an overnight train in the aircon sleeper carriage (we wanted no aircon, to save money and not be so cold, but they had no cheap seats left). I love sleeper cars in trains, but for some reason I didn't sleep much at all on this trip, so I was a bit grumpy in the morning.
Ron was in a more philosophical mood in the morning, as he pondered the meaning of life and the diverse and changing environments in which we constantly find ourselves on our travels.
Outside of central Bangkok the whole place is covered in slums, even all around the King's palace, within about 50 metres of the moat. It always makes us a bit sad, and as in past visits we discussed the differences between poverty in Vancouver and elsewhere.
Well, we caught a cab to Khao Sarn Rd (pronounced Cow-san road) which is basically the backpackers hub of Bangkok. After some walking around, we found ourselves a cheap enough place to stay and then...
I found $5.
And that's how I met Brad Pitt.
...To be continued next time (this time, it will really be in 2 or 3 days' time, seriously).
posted by PhotoDiarist at 17:00
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