And here is the other story...
Let me preface this with the fact that I love traveling, I am very happy with
my decision to take this trip and I love waking up in the morning without
absolute certainty about where I will end up at the end of the day. Having said
that, not all travel is glamorous and there is a certain amount of time spent
in the process of getting from a to b. A is great, B is wonderful, it’s that
space in between that can sometimes be a nightmare.
So in Krabi I arranged my trip to Ko Pha Ngan for the bargain price of 660B (roughly
$22AUD) and thought how very thrifty I was. The long tail from Hat Railey to
Krabi was fine. The Minivan that picked us up from the pier in Krabi was fine. A
Swiss couple, two German guys and myself were all headed to the same ferry and
were making friends nicely. Then the minivan stopped at a random tourist
office/ private home and we were told that another van would be there to pick
us up in 1 hour. Not what we expected… but still fine.
The two German guys smoked like it was going out of fashion and I chatted to
the Swiss couple about their recent time in Australia. A little over an hour
later another van arrived (a slightly shoddier looking van) and we were back on
our way… not great but still ok.
After about 2 hours on the road we stopped at another tourist office and
were asked to get out. Another van would be here soon. Maybe 1 hour later a sangawathi
(spelling?), which is basically a 4WD Ute with bench seats in the back, pulled
up to collect us. Now we were all getting annoyed and wondering if we would
make the 4pm ferry. We were driven about 20 minutes down the road where, you
guessed it; they unloaded us again and told us to wait for our bus.
At this stage the Swiss couple were on the verge of screaming at the driver
and the German guys were very upset because they were nearly out of cigarettes.
I was annoyed... but really there was not much we could do but roll with it. Our
fourth and final bus arrived. It was large and had air conditioning, which I
liked. The driver got off, screamed at us in Thai, threw our bags onto the bus
and started driving off down the road before the Swiss lady had actually made
it onto the bus, which I did not like. Don’t worry her husband screamed back so
the driver would stop and she got on board.
Perhaps an hour later we arrived at the port and were told to run quickly
down the pier because our ferry was leaving. They ushered us onto the boat and
into an air conditioned cabin J
However, they soon came around and asked us all for 30B to pay for sitting in
the air conditioning. We all quickly got up and moved to the non air
conditioned cabin below while the ferry man yelled at us.
We had been told to run quickly for the ferry at 4pm. The boat pulled out of
the pier at 5;15pm. The trip that followed was so horrible that I am afraid to
get back on a ferry and leave this island. There was a storm brewing so the
swell was quite large and the ferry was rocking back and forth quite violently.
The windows were leaking, the support beams were making loud cracking sounds
and a TV cabinet on the wall kept wobbling about and threatening to fall. When
we docked at Ko Samui the Swiss couple and the German guys got off the boat. Every
instinct in my body told me to get off the boat too. I didn’t listen. I should
have.
As we pulled out of Ko Samui the last of the days sun disappeared so we were
now pitching about in the dark. The waves got rougher and the boat made louder
more frightening sounds. Normally at this point I am the person who is laughing
at how spectacularly bad the day has been... but I still have confidence that
the locals would not be on the boat if it was really dangerous. I was genuinely
frightened.
Just to make it all that much more special the bottom cabin was filled with
the smell of petrol fumes. The seasick feeling that I had been fighting began
to overwhelm me. I got out of my seat and moved to the back of the boat in the
hope it would be less bumpy and to allow myself closer proximity to the
bathroom. I covered my mouth and nose with a sarong to try and stop the fumes. I
stood up and leaned against a pillar (I had no real reason I just felt sick
sitting down). People on the boat gave me sympathetic looks. One guy laughed.
Five minutes later I had not been ill, but the guy who laughed at me was
vomiting in a bin beside me. Karma. Then a small boy near me was unwell in a
chip packet. Then an Italian couple was unwell on the far side of the boat. Then
every second person on the boat seemed to be throwing up. I don’t know how… but
I was not unwell. I gave my only plastic bag to a mother who had two small boys
on her lap. I wanted to help her more… but I was still pretty close to being
sick myself.
I’m not kidding, I think there were about 40 people in that cabin being
unwell. I have never wanted to get out of anywhere faster in my life. Finally
the lights of Ko Pha Ngan could be seen in the distance. We docked, I got my
bag and got the hell away from that boat.
I have since spent three lovely lazy days on Ko Pha Ngan J
The people are lovely, the food is great, the hammocks are plentiful, the
massages are cheap and the bays are pretty. The sun has been hiding and the
rain has been intermittent… but it’s still a beautiful and very laid back
place. Tomorrow I am off to Bangkok
via boat and train. I am not excited about the boat ride L
