From Rags to Riches

After a long and enduring night bus from Viantianne, we are back in Thailand.  We could tell right away we were in Thailand after we crossed the border and got our visas issued.  Stray dogs everywhere.  Also, the great pit stops at one o'clock in the morning, when you have just fallen asleep in the most uncomfortable position, when a Thai lady comes on the bus yelling "TOILET" over and over again in the most annoying high pitched voice.  Guess we have to get used to it as we have a couple night buses ahead of us.

We got into Bangkok bright and early onto Koh San Road, the backpacker's alley.  We were quickly reminded why we don't like Bangkok and why we haven't spent more than 17 hours in this place, even though it is our 4th stop here.  We were rudely awakened with the humidity even and 5 in the morning and the sweet pungent smell of garbage everywhere.  We made it to our 24 hour restaurant where we always go first thing when we get off the bus because at least here they have a clean bathroom with a western toilet.  Score. Even at 5 am there are still people walking the streets with there Chang beers, and when we saw them lying and sitting on the ground we were pretty grossed out.  Wouldn't be suprised if they contracted some kind of disease because you never know what happens on the streets.  We even saw a guy passed out on the street.  Only in Bangkok. 

So the plan is to go to Ko Chang and we were lucky to get on the bus at 8am, but of course now we are on Thai time so it didn't actually leave until 9am.  They said it was going to be a 8 hour trip to get to Ko Chang, but it ended up being more than 10 hours.  We had to wait for the ferry and when we got to the island we got into a taxi (pickup truck with benches in the back).  The driver was ridiculous and just tried to rip us off.  At this point we were both exhausted and hungry and we had only consumed a couple crackers all day, and hadn't had a meal since the night before.  We were to the point we didn't care and just wanted to get to our bungalows.  The driver drove around in a circle just to piss us off then stopped at another ferry port, got out of the truck and went and layed in a hammock.  By this point I was angry and went to talk to him and asked if he was going to take us and that we were willing to pay.  He tried to jack the price up because as he said he didn't have a full car.  Super aggrevated. we aggreed on a price (way too much) and just knew that he was getting his bang for his buck.  NOt a nice person.  Now I know why we didn't particularly like Thailand the first time because some of the locals (not all) are just trying to rip you off.

We made it to our bungalow, which was nice and about a 5 minute walk from the beach.  White sand beach and blue water.  It is in the Gulf of Thailand, so not as clear as water as we saw in the Andamen Sea.  Still the weather is beautiful and so hot.  Way hotter than the last time we were here, so the suntanning takes less time and we still have managed with the 2 days we were there to get a really good suntan.  We are still coping with the sweat issue, as it doesn't stop even at night.  Constantly we are dripping with sweat and have to go in and out of the water about every 5 minutes just to cool down.  The beach is great, we are very happy to be back on the beaches and not having a schedule. 

We left Ko Chang on March 8 back to Bangkok as we are meeting up with Erin's aunt on March 9 and the boys we traveled with in Cambodia and Vietnam.  We are now in Bangkok for the 5th time which is the longest we have stayed.  We ventured off to Koh San Rd. for the night after finding a little guesthouse just off the main strip.  We walked up and down and this time not so overwhelming as it was the first time we were here.  We are used to it and actually like the hustle and bustle of this little street.  Filled with backpackers we sat and had a drink and watched them walk by as we enjoyed our bucket of sangsom/redbull/coke.    It has been a long time since we had a bucket and the taste reminded us of cough syrup!!!!!  Oh and we saw Jack Sparrow (the thai version that is)

We are now at the Novotel Hotel waiting to meet up with Cindy, and we can't believe the establishment we are in.  Here we are traveling for 4 months with our backpacks and we feel like bums.  The cab pulls into the front of the hotel and we are greeting by bell boys who take our bags, and our initial reaction was don't touch my bag, as we have had much of that traveling.  But we stepped aside and let them do as we want to be pampered.  IT's the nicest place we have been in, in 4 months and we are going to soak it up and be pampered!!!   I hope we get housecoats.