We took the plunge and left touristlandia. It was a good jump.
After exploring Ko Phi Phi and all of the wonderfully amusing tourist photo shoots that went with it (peace fingers and packs of international sorority girls FTW), we took the morning bus to Surat Thani, a transport hub for one of the oldest standing rainforest on earth and some more tropical islands. Being the ill-informed Americans that we are, we got our tickets from the travel agency that charged us three times the price of the actual bus ticket but "provided transportation to the station" (about 3 miles or 50 baht away). We'll know for next time.
The bus was colorful and full of foreigners and Thais alike. The landscape was beautiful and there was enough space to spread out and sleep....critical because the 2 hour bus ride somehow became 4 hours when accounting for stopping for any individual on the road, whether they wanted a ride or not. Our plans for the forest dashed, we wandered off the bus with nowhere to put our packs and zero tourists anywhere. Luckily the Thai people find everything we attempt to say endlessly amusing and we made friends with many a chicken-skewer seller as we meandered to find a hostel. Enter "My Place", the cheapest nicest hotel we've seen with free bottled water, private bathrooms, and less than $7.00 a night. Thailand win.
We spent the rest of the day essentially doing nothing. We wandered a bit and ended up at Pizza Hut to satisfy Rob's craving. I checked in with my Masters class and went for a run. It was really cool being in actual Thailand; this is a transport hub, but not a tourist town, so its much more genuine and less flashy than Krabi. I had to weave my way through food stalls and shoes stands, ducking under the low low awnings that are fine for most Thais, but difficult for Americans,
while I ran. There was a huge carnival happening and temples abounding every couple of blocks. I'm
surprised by the relative lack of poverty I've witnessed. It might be behind closed doors or hidden in alleys I won't go down, but honestly the Thai people seem like they're doing all right. If they're not terrifying the shit out of everyone on mopeds, they're driving nice, shiny pick-up trucks. The schools have basketball courts and soccer fields. We're in a relatively big city and I honestly think I see more beggars in Denver. As Rob pointed out, it'd be really easy to be homeless becaus you could just eat all the offerings from the Buddha shrines which dot every corner and parking lot. I think there is a massive fine to prohibit this, but I have no doubt it happens.
After my run, we went to 7/11, an invaluable water resource supported by the WHO, to stock up with snacks for our hike today. I got some weird stomach thing but sat at the night market for pad Thai anyway. Dinner ended real quick when, in a span of about 30 seconds, Rob spotted a cockroach and two rats. #winning. I needed to buy bug spray and we ended up in a target-like store playing charades
with the employees. One woman thought I wanted a pedicure and another group essentially played
rock-paper-scissors to decide who would talk to us. By the time we finally found the bug spray, we had a gaggle of 7 female employees following us and laughing together (with us right?!?!?). Regardless, mission accomplished.
Today I woke up with the continuation of the weird stomach thing, but went to Khao Sok anyway. It's the oldest evergreen rainforest on the planet (bring it on Amazon), with its history starting about 160 million years ago. 160. Million. Years. Americas got nothing on Khao Sok.
The must amusing part of the day by FAR was the bus ride, which again took an solid hour longer than predicted (it's like the bus drivers are weather men..between 8-10 inches, partly sunny, somewhere maybe close to this time). The delay this time was the result of traveling to the other side of the city, an hour long journey itself, to have street venders come on the bus to sell fried chicken. 5-
6 street vendors all selling the same product at 9:30 in the morning! And so many foreigners (but no
Thais) bought it. It's like the awful Burger King stop on the NYC - Boston route, where everyone buys fries and then the bus reeks the rest of the way. But in Thailand. With chicken. At the beginning of the journey.
Regardless, the park was beautiful and old and such a nice respite from hordes of beachgoers. Unfortunately, that stomach thing kept me moving really slowly and at one point Rob just kept going without me while I took a nap, but still compeltely worth the journey. The picture tell the story of the jungle better than I could and this entry is crazy long so I'll stop here. Tomorrow, we head to Koh Samui and a national marine park which I am pumpedddd to explore and get much tan onnnnnn. No sunscreen Mom, Amrite?
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