Next on our itinerary is Phuket. To get there we are taking the overnight train which arrives in Surat Thani at 3 am and then a 4 hour bus ride to Phuket. Around 6pm the turn all the seats on the train into beds so we can sleep. Not the best sleep but as someone who is backpacking you take what you can get. 3 am we arrive at the train station and are ushered into another tuk tuk and driven to a bus station. We are all a little sketched out but its 3 am so we are in no position to argue. We arrive at the bus station and purchase a ticket to Phuket which costs us 680$ baht (Train was 800$ baht) and chill with some older German dudes till 7:20am. Bus arrives we depart picking up some other people along the way. We learn that our friends on the bus paid 1/2 of what we paid...sweet. Lesson learned again - don't trust the tuk tuk driver. This bus trip is one I will hopefully forget but not soon enough. After stopping for mystery meat on the side of the road and the air conditioning not working combined with the fact that no one on the bus has had a shower in like 24 hours, I contemplate ditching my companions and getting the hell off the bus. I decide to stick it out and realize I'm going a bit crazy. Once in Phuket the bus driver attempted to drop me, Stacy and Andy off at some hotel. Um hell no, everyone on the bus bands together and we stage an occupy the bus, noone gets off until he takes us to Patong. After much arguing and paying him 100$ baht he relents and drives us to Patong. Once in Patong he attempts to drop us all off at another shady hotel. By this time I have had it, I firmly tell him to get back in the driver seat and drive us to the beach, he does :)
Another tuk tuk ride later we arrive at out bungalow. We shower and then head out. Patong is famous for its night life so we head to Baang La Road. I play a game of hammering in a nail (harder then you think) and we head to Jasmine's Bar and meet the owner Bobby. He is amazing and understands English very well and better yet doesn't attempt to screw us around. So we chill there for a while and then head to a ping pong show... The ping pong show is a show in which women extract things from their vagina's (razor blades, ping pong balls, gold fish). I wish I never saw it but my curiosity got the best of me.
We decide its time to leave Phuket and head to Koh Phangan home of the full moon party. We wheel and deal and score a overnight ferry ticket and bus ride for 600$ baht from a street travel agent.
Bring on the next adventure...
One thing you have to learn fast is to never ever settle for a cost or final price of anything. That's the beauty of third world countries, where you can barter and bargain your way through. I think by the time you leave Thailand, you will be able to teach barter and bargain 101 with your eyes closed. Good on you for telling the driver to get his arse behind the seat and drive you guys to your next destinations. Last time I checked, gypsies, travelers and tourist, were not known as stupid, just respectful until you take advantage of us. That's when we take control of any situation. Two thumbs to my favorite travelling whore.
ReplyDeleteHaha I agree completely. At times it's annoying to be treated like an ATM machine
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