The bus from hell

A few days ago I arrived in Phuket, the most famous tourist spot in Thailand and what most people know as the site of the 2004 tsunami. I have never seen so many Europeans in my entire life! The beach we are at is called Karon Beach and is supposed to be one of the nicer and less crowded ones in Phuket. I have never seen a more crowded beach! I mean coming from Alaska you probably think I have never seen a beach in my life but I've been to a fair share in my time. This beach was lined with umbrellas, chairs, speedos and topless women. Some of whom are a little to old so be showing their goodies like that but then remembering I'm in little Europe here I realized they must uphold to the European standard of nudity.


Anyways, the sand is like powder and the water is so clear that you can see your toes! But don't get all jealous just yet. I haven't told you about actually getting here which is a story in itself.


We left our hotel at 8 am and were picked up by a shuttle bus that then drove 20 minutes to the pier to catch the ferry. Waited for an hour there and then took the ferry for an hour and a half to the mainland of Thailand. Little did we know that we were sitting right next to the engine, so when I awoke from a nap I was drenched in sweat! After getting off the ferry and dragging my 50 pound luggage down a rickety staircase we boarded a coach size bus. The bus ride was about an hour or so and then dropped us off at this little building on the side of the road. We were told we could pay 500 baht to take a small bus that would get us there 2 hours faster. But we declined and just waited while everyone else piled into this tiny van. Looking around I realized we were the only ones left! We asked the lady where is the bus to Phuket and she points to the van and says there are two seats in the front, get in! So we hand our luggage to the driver who straps it to the top of the van and then both Jimmy and I squeeze ourselves into the front seat next to the driver. I am lucky enough to be able to snooze some but awoke to a horrified look on Jimmy's face when he tells me the driver has been dozing off at the wheel. I guess he was trying to open some sort of medicine to keep him awake and drifted into the other lane and the car had to go around us!

The driving here in Thailand is much like it is in China... HORRIBLE! They pass other cars and motorbikes whenever and wherever they please, even on blind corners. So I guess it's a good thing that I sleep when I'm in the car because I would probably be freaking out. Anyways, our bus finally arrived in Phuket about 4 hours later and again we were let out of the car not knowing what was going on. A lady told us we would be dropped off in the downtown and then would have to find a taxi to our guesthouse which is on another part of Phuket. We get into the car and 20 min later are dropped off again on a road. The driver says "Ok hotel there, there, there and there. Goodbye." And leaves us there on the side of the road with our luggage. The next step is finding a taxi or Tuk Tuk as they call them here. It takes awhile and when we finally get one they want a ridiculous amount of money and the driver refuses to budge which is so strange because in Samui they always haggled with you. We realized that since this is like little Europe, most of the Europeans don't bargain and just take whatever they say since it is so cheap. But as starving teachers we know better! So long story short we make it to the guesthouse about an hour later after traveling for 12 hours!

All in all, even though the bus ride was really uncomfortable and we didn't know what was going on most of the time, it was still a really cool experience to be able to see rural Thailand and how the local Thai's live with their bamboo houses and kids riding next to us on motorbikes. Let's just say that when we leave here to go to another town I'm taking the ferry!