Is There a Farang in the House?

At the pier I saw Neils, my diving "buddy" which surprised me, as I thought he had headed out the day before. We boarded the catamaran which was definitely more upscale than the rest of the boats that I had been on, which is probably why the price was higher at 550 Baht (approx $17.20). I could have gone for 100 Baht less (approx $3) but I wanted to get to Chumphon on the earliest boat since I didn't know when the buses would leave for my next destination. On the boat they were showing Nacho Libre but you could hardly hear it over the noise from the engines. Really didn't bother me any as I was keeping my eyes closed since my stomach wasn't really liking the rough ride, which wasn't helped by the rain.

Once docked, Neils and I parted ways as he was heading to Bangkok and I had to head into downtown Chumphon that was about 1/2 hour away. Once in Chumphon, why should I have been surprised, but I was, we were dropped off at Farang Bar, where we could get tickets for the train and bus. I had been contemplating on whether to go to Prachuap Khiri Khan or go past it and head on up to Petchaburi (also known as Petburi). Not too much happens in Prachuap Khiri Khan but it does have a wat (temple) on a hill that is supposed to have great views of the town below and the ocean, along with monkeys. I had about 10 minutes before catching the first bus but decided to wait until the 4pm bus so that I would have time to let my stomach settle before eating lunch and to find a bookstore. Prachuap Khiri Khan is about a 3 1/2 hour ride as opposed to Petburi which is about a 5 1/2 - 6 hour ride, so as to not arrive too much after dark, I opted to make the stop at Prachuap Khiri Khan.

In the rain, I found the bookstore that sells LPs. Although I had a combination Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos book, after looking through it, I felt that it would be better as a supplementary book. I was hoping to find Cambodia first as that is where I should be heading to next. Unfortunately, that was the one they didn't have. With the Vietnam and Laos LPs in hand, my next mission was to find the bus station to see if I can find a local bus to Prachuap Khiri Khan. Once again, principle getting in the way as the ticket was only 280 Baht (approx $8.75) but I knew that a local bus would be so much cheaper and perhaps I could leave earlier. Despite a good effort, I couldn't find the bus station (probably because in most towns they aren't true bus stations, but storefronts with only Thai signs).

Back at the bar, only to find out that the 4pm bus was canceled and now the only option was a 6pm bus. I really didn't want to stay in Chumphon for the night as there is truly nothing to do there. I settled myself at the bar and ordered some lunch. A local farang (the Thai word for foreigner) started chatting to me. He was a 56 year old Norwegian who was now married to a Thai woman for the past 6 years. Now he does nothing all day, so he ends up sitting at the bar drinking beers. I think he must have had at least 8 while I was there, and that doesn't count the ones before I got there and after I left! However, he was nice enough and his wife, Manie, came by to check on him. I had mentioned about my quest to find the Cambodia LP and she very kindly offered to take me to another bookstore. So, I hopped on the back of her motorbike and we headed off. Unfortunately, I didn't have any luck. Once again, back at the bar, Manie took off leaving her husband who was hanging out with a Swede that I believe was in the military and stationed in Hong Kong, but not sure how that meant he was in Chumphon. There was also a teacher covered in bandages from her Thai tatoo (what they call when you crash your motorbike) who came in for a late lunch, but I didn't talk to her, so not sure where she was from. A Belgian girl then came over to the bar to get something to eat. She was itching to get out of Chumphon, having been stuck there for the last 4 days after arriving from Ko Tao with second degree burns from snorkeling (she was quite a pale person). Given that she was in quite a bit of pain, she couldn't continue on until she got better. So, given all of us hanging out, it was quite the motley crew!

At 5:30 myself and 4 others that had come from Ko Tao were rushed into a taxi. Thinking that we had quite aways to go for the bus station, we were taken only 4 blocks! The bus station as I expected was just a storefront. Unfortunately, because of the rain, the bus was half an hour late and it was already getting dark. I was definitely going to break my first cardinal rule of traveling, "Only arrive at a new location during daylight, unless being picked up by the place you are staying at."