It generally happens like this ;-
Taxi driver/shopkeeper/random person on street/ -
Where u from?
Me - Ireland
Holland.
No. IREland.
Oh Dutch !
No IRELAND, next to England.
Oh England.
No, from Dublin.
OK have good time.
Communication can always be testing when travelling and sometimes even my best efforts are not enough even to get a cup of coffee. So after arriving in a surprisingly sedate bangkok my first task was to secure a bus ticket to my next destination Chiang Khong before the New Year rush. It all sounded so simple and the map looked easy(see me profile) so I set off on the subway to get to the bus station. Arriving at the station in the outer city again was surprised to see some really good parks and not as built up as I expected. After 20 mins and asking 5 people I had not made any progress to finding out exactly where the station was. Eventually a security guard set me in the right direction, that is the right direction for the next 40 mins (so glad I packed light)asking people along the way they assured me through various forms of hand gestures and map pointing that I was on the right path. Evetually arrived at said destination and went to the information desk to see about buying ticket. After queuing at another desk the lady made me understand that I had to buy my advance ticket from somwhere else and gave me a map. (this is the government bus service so I followed along)So after a moto ride all the way back to near subway the driver left me at the location on the map. There were buses and people but it was a bus testing centre and some kind of Hq for the national bus service. After approaching a info desk and trying to communicate that I wanted to buy a ticket, I began to understand that I would not be able. I tried to explain that I had just come from the bus station but no one could understand. One of the girls behind the desk rang her sister and I was able to explain my prediciment to her , who then explained back to her sister. So after scribbling some thai instructions on a piece of paper I set off again to the bus station. After another 20 mins of trying to find some one who could help I gave them the instructions that the lady had written. Eventually I had a ticket. It turned out that the bus on that day leaves from the location on the map the first lady gave me because of the new year rush they are not leaving from the bus station. So I am setting off shortly to hopefully catch this night bus up to the north. So even buying a bus ticket can lead to a mini adventure encountering some unplanned sight seeing along the way and meeting some of the local people.
