Thailand Part 2

Downtown Bangkok

 My first day in Thailand greeted us with warm sunshine and a clear, cloudless sky. More good omens for the beginning of our week long trip. With no hotel reservations, no tickets booked, and no travel itinerary, we had nothing but open road ahead of us.

We had a short meeting on the balcony as we surveyed the parking lot and highway outside our hotel. Navid and I had, originally, made a plan to see Bangkok then sweep across the southern islands of Phuket and Koh Phangnan before returning to Bangkok for our flights home.  The plan had been scrapped, and instead, swapped for a seven day stay in Bangkok. But given the levity inspired by the beautiful morning, and new-found information from Navid's Thai friends that Phuket isn't THAT dangerous, we decided to alter the plan, yet again, and somehow make it down to Phuket.

So we cleaned up, packed up, checked out, and hopped on the free computer in the lobby for some research. Talking to the staff of the hotel, we learned that it would actually be quite easy to get down to Phuket. All that it would require was a bus to the bus station, and an overnight bus to Phuket, leaving somewhere around 7pm.  I set immediately to finding some accommodations in Phuket and in no time, located a hostel about 20 minutes from Patong beach for, approximately, fifteen dollars of the grand old US of A. Needing some time online for himself, Navid got on and I stepped out for some fresh air.

Relaxing on a bench and basking in the sun's glow, I was soon approached by a friendly stranger. I invited him to join me on the bench and we started into some congenial smalltalk. What's your name, where you from, where you going? That kind of thing. We will from here on out refer to the stranger as "Jabar," as Navid has referred to him since. Frankly, his real name is not important. Jabar spoke many languages and, fortunately (or not) for me, English happened to be one he was very familiar with.  He had been traveling for quite some time, over a month at the time of our meeting, had started in England, and had spent the past couple of weeks traveling through Africa on his own. How fortunate I felt to have met such an interesting and well-traveled person so early in our trip.

I went inside to sort a few things out and, meanwhile, Navid stepped out for some fresh air. When I returned, Navid had already made good friends with Jabar. Such good friends, in fact, that it turned out Jabar would be accompanying us on our trip into the city. I'm certainly not one to turn down new friends, especially when traveling through a country in which I know no one. So, finishing the last of our arrangements, we decided to depart. We called a cab to bring us to the nearest station and collected our things, Jabar slothily shuffling up the stairs saying he'd be back down in five minutes.

Five minutes passed and no Jabar. Eight minutes passed and the cab arrived. Twelve minutes passed and Navid and I were seated in the back of the cab, assuring the driver that our friend would be down any minute now. Fifteen minutes passed and finally, the fellow shuffled out the front door and got in the van. No matter. I take way longer than I say I will all the time. And we were on vacation. So what the hell.

Trains in Thailand are much more lively and louder than those in Japan. Definitely more my style

We arrived at our station and hopped the train to downtown dowtown Bangkok. Navid and I were excitedly brewing up potential plans for the rest of our trip, and we were eager to hear about our new friend's plans and ideas. With a thirty minute train ride on our hands, we had some more time to talk and get to know our new friend.  Jabar had traveled through several countries in Africa, had spoken with the natives, and had even spent an evening dining in a mud hut with some people he had met in some city.  Now he was in Thailand enjoying the experience and going where the roads might take him. And of course, we were cool with that.

Navid was convivial as ever. Even when Jabar asked Navid about his (nonexistent) military experience, it was immediately forgotten as we lapsed into the next topic. We were bubbling with excitement and ready to see what was waiting for us.

View from the train station

One of the greatest parts of Thailand: street stalls selling amazing food everywhere

Some of it wasn't incredibly appetizing for me...

Thai consumer culture reminded me an awful lot of consumer culture everywhere else I've been. The ad on the right was for a Thai zombie movie. Sweet!

 We stepped off the train into the sweltering heat of the Thai winter and immediately decided that our first stop would be the massive, air-conditioned mega-mall straight in front of us. Through the sliding doors and down the marble elevator brought is into a giant, pan-asian, super-deluxe food court.  The air was filled with the scent of spice and clamor of chatter. All around us were people who, well, looked like people you'd find in a mall. We seated ourselves at what seemed to be the only available table in the joint and enjoyed our first experience of having absolutely no idea what the Thai staff was saying to us. After alot of smiling, picture pointing, and head nodding, we finally managed to order some food.

It was nice to have a little time to just relax and chat with my travel companions. I was, of course, eager to hear more about our friend "Jabar's" travel experiences and history.  After a few general questions, namely "Why did you quit your job and start traveling the world?", I started to get the feeling that our friend Jabar was avoiding the topic of his past at all costs. In fact, I started picking up on a variety of other strange things about our friend that made me think something was amiss. Not to mention his tendency to wander around slowly and stare at things. The guy was just strange, and not my kind of strange. I hadn't finished half of my curry before I'd decided that I wanted nothing to do with this guy.

The only photographic evidence of "Jabar"

It was a while before I had a moment to speak with Navid about the matter, but as soon as the opportunity presented itself, I moved in close and whispered, "Dude, we need to ditch Jabar." Navid, my man, was on the exact same wavelength. Within 15 minutes we had successfully exchanged emails, said goodbyes, and rid ourselves once and for all of this strange parasite.

It was at this point that we realized that we had nowhere to go back to, and not much time to wander the streets of Bangkok. We had only begun starting on finding a route to the bus station when we discovered that it was going to be a huge pain. Good lord, why had neither of us picked up a Thai phrasebook before coming? Trying to get bus directions in broken English had proved to be much more difficult than we had imagined, and after 20 minutes of asking various station employees how we might get to the bus station, wound up in a giant roundabout turned bus stop, staring at a good 50 busses, all honking and jockeying for position.

Scooters everywhere in Thailand!

I stood there dazed, checking every bus number, wondering how in the hell we were ever going to figure out which one was ours. The 406, the 52, the red one, the blue one, how could anyone make sense of this? Then Navid turned the awesome on. Narrowing his eyes and assessing the situation, "That one. There! Let's go!", he grunted as he began chasing down a moving bus. "Bus terminal bus terminal!" we shouted as the driver shook his head and began pulling away. Thankfully, the ticket lady on the bus figured out where the only two white boys on the street would be heading and that it was on her route. "OK!" she squawked and beckoned with a swooping, full armed, "c'mere" motion. The bus brakes whined and we hopped on as the bus sped out onto open road.

Having a moment to breathe after the excitement, I was able to have some peace. But it didn't last long. I couldn't help but notice that, although we were supposedly heading to the "southern Bus Terminal", the bus was heading north. I checked the angle of the sun. estimated our general latitude and longitude, and used my extensive knowledge of geography to determine that yes, we were heading north. I then realized that we surely must have gotten on the wrong bus and were certainly heading into the worst Thai ghetto conceivable
where we would be mugged, robbed, beaten, and left to die, if we were lucky. Panic started rising in my gut as the knowledge that we had stepped onto the bus of doom set in. What were we going to do?

It was at the peak of my panic that I heard a soft "Hello" to my left. I looked down to see a kindly old prune of a lady, peering up at me through giant rimmed glasses. "Where are you from" she implored. Oh dear lord, thank the stars above me. A Thai woman who spoke great English. "Chicago" I replied, "Have you ever been there?"

"Chicago?" she laughed, looking off for a moment. "I lived there for five years. Near Korea town."

Korea town?! I'd just been there not months before. Who could believe it? On the other side of the world, I met another (kind of ) Chicagoan. I'd never been so grateful to meet someone who'd been to Chicago.

We chatted for a bit and had a few laughs. She was a cool old lady. I told her where we were going and she told me we'd be where we wanted in two stops. I felt at ease and thankful to have come across such a kind person.

Navid, apparently, hadn't realized that we were on the bus of doom and, as such, wasn't as relieved as I was to get to the bus terminal. He was pleased to reach our destination though, and we forged onward into the heart of the bus terminal. Within 15 minutes, we were the proud owners of two one way tickets to Phuket.

Sun-beat and pack-weary, we dragged our feet to the bus just as the sun had set, and threw our crap down. It felt good. The day was done. We'd found our bus. All we had to do was sit back, relax, and wait for Phuket to come to us.

One of my favorite shots from the trip