M-whY

So what's the problem? While sitting in these white vans with inadequate air conditioning, accompanied by half a dozen fellow backpackers, I often see these huge, luxurious, public coach buses, transporting not package tourists, but Thai people. It looked far more comfortable than the cramped vehicle I was in. The ride from Phuket to Bangkok is a considerable twelve hour journey; I was determined to take public transportation this time.

The public bus station was fortunately a comfortable walk from my guesthouse. Early in the morning, I headed down there to check schedules and fares. Most left sometime in the evening, and would arrive in Bangkok in the wee hours of the morning. I bought a ticket for 4:00pm, and returned to my room to pack and check out.

With most of the day to kill, I spent a significant portion of it in an air conditioned internet cafe, surrounded by a swarm of kids playing the latest computer games. Chatting with a friend on the other side of the world, I was a little spooked by how well he knew my life (or at least the last three months of it). But I guess such is the case when I keep a blog about my daily activities.

My time probably could've been better spent catching up on some days that needed to be written up, but the motivation just wasn't there. Keeping up to date has gotten harder as the trip wears on. I spend up to two hours per entry, just writing and editing. It didn't use to take this long, but lately I've tried to improve on quality of my entries. (I wonder if it shows? Or is the effort in vain?) I cringe when I look back at earlier samples of my work. It's like watching an episode of The Simpsons from season one; it's just not very good.

Four o'clock finally rolled around, and I was back at the station to board my bus. I looked at my ticket, and couldn't figure out if I was supposed to be at gate 11, boarding bus number 1, or at gate 1, boarding bus number 11. Someone from the ticketing booth pointed me in the right direction, and a smartly dressed hostess directed me to my assigned seat.

The public bus was many times more comfortable than private one. The hostess passed out snacks and drinks. The air conditioning was frigid. There was even an inflight movie. Announcements were made in Thai, which I couldn't understand, but I don't think they were very important anyways. 'Travelling as the locals do' often invokes impressions of sitting in a rattling cage surrounded by livestock. That just wasn't the case. At least in Thailand.

We made a couple stops for toilet breaks and dinner. Not a speck of english could be found at the open air roadside cafeterias, so ordering was done with the 'smile, point, and nod whenever a question is asked' method. The question must've been 'Do you want it spicy?' because I had to down a cup of water for every bite I took. Maybe I should use the 'smile, point, and shake my head whenever a question is asked' method next time.

It felt like I had just fallen asleep when the lights came on again. Groggy-eyed, I glanced at my watch. 4:00am. I was in Bangkok. From the bus station, a taxi took me to Khao San Road, the backpacker mecca of southeast asia, where I knew I'd be able to find a guesthouse still taking customers. Even at this hour, people were out and about, drinking and partying. I found a place on a quiet soi off the main road.

"I'd like a room please?" I told the woman at reception.

She got me checked in, and I climbed a flight of stairs five stories to my room. I dropped my bags and crawled into bed. As comfortable as coach bus seats may be, nothing beats sleeping in a mattress!

Thanks to everyone for their support and comments! Knowing people are reading keeps me motivated to continue the updates!