Surf South

Last Wednesday, I left Chiang Rai via bus, heading south to Bangkok. I believe it was a 12 hour bus ride.  I had a great seat; spacey, right up front and by myself.  The bus took off and there was an "interesting" Thai movie playing.  The movie title I am unsure of. The language was Thai and about it was about two men and their crazy road trip adventure, lots of slapstick humor.   The plan, spend a couple of days in the Bangkok area.  Why not, lots of history (temples, floating market) right?  The bus had several mini stops, while police checks at each province.  All Thai passports were checked, I was never once asked to show mine.  I actually feel asleep for a couple hours, awoke to a woman yelling in my direction, in Thai.  Apparently I was to get off the bus, the only one.  I was then sent to hop on another bus around 3 am.  The only words we exchanged were, me: Bangkok? and the stewardess nodding. On I went.

My bus arrived around 6am in Bangkok.  I stepped off the bus into the morning city air.  I felt like I was slapped in the face.  I left chill, northern Thailand for a dirty, urban, busy, city? Nope... I thought to myself, Holly give Bangkok a chance, first get out of the terminal.  Not many people spoke English, what I expected.  But there I was, a tall gangly white girl literally towering over everyone in sight, likely showing the expression of.."now what?" With my next year in my hands, a backpack, a carry-on size suitcase, and a larger suitcase on wheels, I maneuvered over curbs and around people. Pictured: Drink and snack provided on the bus to Bangkok - ice-cream flavored Oreos and a berry yogurt drink. 

Where to start. I had a slip of paper from a girl I met in the dorm, during my last night in Chiang Rai.  She told me about a place to stay, The Lucky Duckling Guesthouse.  There was a hand drawn map, I knew it was on a popular street, Khaosan Road. That was what I kept repeating to people, and they would say, “Bus #3.” So I made my way through the busy terminal saying, “bus #3?”.. about every 30 feet.  In turn they would point in a vague direction.  I weaved my way through vendors, food stalls, and people and found bus #3.  The bus is a public bus for transportation, and there I was loading my next year of life onto a bus. All eyes on me.  10 baht latter, I chose a seat and hugged my luggage against my body as others climbed aboard.  Once I was on the bus, I realized that I had no idea what Khaosan Road looked like or where it was, nada. I then decided I should look for someone who might know...nobody. Just monks and Thai business men.  Soon enough a Thai woman boarded and sat next to me.  She filled me in and told me that she would be getting off near my stop.  I got off the bus and she told me to go to the corner, take a right and walk.  She also said that I may need a song taw with all of my luggage.

I took the corner and headed down the streets.  One man saw me and directed me towards Khaosan Road, telling me that I should take a taxi.  If there’s one piece of advice I will give other traveling, avoid the taxi. If you are in a bus station, airport, or traveling innercity, the taxis are overpriced.  I knew that it was probably not far to walk and I can maneuver luggage well.  Once I found the street I noticed lots of canals and a river.  I followed the hand drawn map, which led me up a steep bridge and down, down stairs, and to a narrow alley.  The alley looked off but it was clearly correct.  There were a couple of older Thai men in the alley way, and a elderly Thai woman carry a cup of tea.  I passed them and continued to dead end.  A Thai man saw me coming down his street and asked where I was heading, I told him the name of the guesthouse and he said, yes, wait here.  He then walked away in his bath towel and sandals. Yes, a bath towel at 7am.  5 minutes later he returned and motioned for me to go to the front side of the guesthouse. Normally that’s fine, but I was then lugging my things up and down hills again, up stairs, and around narrow sidewalks crowded by vendors and people more interested in mingling then making room on the sidewalks. Not to mention that I was dripping in sweat.  I found the guesthouse.  I was then told that the owners are not there until 9am. I was a bit frustrated, and the current guests were outside looking hungover and let’s just stay not my ideal crowd.  




I decided that Bangkok wasn’t for me now or in the near future, perhaps better in the right company.  I made it back to a main road with one thing on my mind, leave Bangkok ASAP.  I decided that I would try to find somewhere to buy a ticket.  I came upon a bus travel stop.  I saw a map on the wall, walked into the shop.  The lady said, “where you go?” I said, I don’t know. She laughed at me.  I literally looked at the map, looked south, and my eyes directed me to Hua Hin. I said, Hua Hin.  She yelled up the stairs, and a young man came down.  He made a call and said, “you leave now?” I said, “sure, yes, now is good!” He said, "ok" you leave ten minutes.  A minibus showed up (more of a what we would call a big van, in the US).  I hopped in with several others, wedged against my luggage.  Off I went.  I’m not going to say it was a pleasant ride, but it wasn’t awful.  I could have done without the sick woman in front of me.

I arrived in Hua Hin around noon.  I found a hostel/hotel called King’s Home.  I asked for the cheapest room.  The owner, a large Dutchman in his boxer boxer (noon), said I could stay in the 'treehouse.'  He then asked me my name and if I was Dutch within the same breath.  I said yes, my grandfather.  He responded, "ah yes, blue eyes, light hair, and light skin, you look Dutch."  He asked me about my family name and such.  The treehouse was fine by me. It was 250 baht a night, wifi, fan, window, mattress, and an above ground pool mini pool in the backyard. My room was next to the alleyway, taken by ladder from underneath the front porch – I forgot to take a picture.  The bathroom was shared with the people the owner and his family.  This Dutchman was a world traveler, a man of many languages, and a man of a few wives and several children.  He was quite the talker and an interesting decorator.  His house was a mini version of the 'House on the Rock', random odd collections of things stapled and placed all over the home. It’s safe to say that the man was or is rather wealthy, retiring in a tropical city.  I learned his entire life story in little time.

Hua Hin is on the western coast of the Thai isthmus, more recently known for its kite surfing waters.  Kite surfing is new of the last 15 years, so I am told.  It's become popular in Uraguay and Brazil as well. I met a fellow guest (the only guest I saw), a young Chinese man now living in Japan, James. He too a world traveler, just ending his one year cross-continental traveling in the tropics of Thailand.  His last destination, Hua Hin for some kite surfing.  He toured me around the city, through the night markets and to a local eating place for supper.  How to tell a good eating place in Thailand - look for a lot of Thai's eating there. I ordered panang red curry with tofu. , cost 70 baht. Very good dish, eating with or without rice.  As we waited for our food we talked about traveling, places to see, and Chinese and Japanese food. 

The next day, I followed James to the beach to check out the kite surfing scene. I know I chose the right location, Hua Hin. The beach was white and sandy and colorful kites were filling the coastline.  I watched those in training, amateur surfers, and professional/competitive surfers.  This was quite fascinating.  The training starts with simply learning to control the kite with your hands, using a stirring rod.  Little effort is needed as the wind does most of the work, the surf board comes later.  The largest part of the cost in the sport is getting the appropriate equipment and lessons if you need them.  Attire typically includes super-sunblock, swim pants to avoid potential jellyfish, swim shorts, sunglasses.

While practicing with his kite technique, I watched James angle his kite as he was pulled parallel to the coastline.  The surfing direction is much different than surfing itself.  I watched professionals do 360s, flips, and all sorts of crazy moves.  The longest hang-time I saw was around 7 seconds, but I was told that you can be airborne, floating, flying for 15 to 20 seconds with the right wind.
What a beautiful and peaceful sport. So cool, and looked like so much fun. People were friendly, the beach was clean, and there were more kite surfers than tourists.  At one time I counted 50 surfers, each minding their own and enjoying the day.  I spent most of my Friday watching the kiters and walking/swimming out with the tide. A beautiful day, even after my run in with a jellyfish. 

I have some great video of the kite surfing but there internet where I am currently at is quite slow, so I will try to upload them to YouTube as soon as I can. Until then, you can use your imagination with the photos below.
 




 In the evening I had a meals at another local restaurant. The food was good, 70 baht. The meal consisted of a nice sauce with, baby corn, carrots, two types of mushrooms, asparagus, red pepper, pea pods, carrots, and chicken.

My plan for the next day was to head further south, to head towards my desired destination for work, the deep southern area of Thailand. On Saturday I bought a ticket to Ranong via megabus at midnight.  Just before I was about to go see a little more of Hua Hin, the wife of the Dutchman, Thai woman, approached me and said there was a change with my bus and that I must leave in a half hour.  I quickly headed to the station, where I waited an hour and a half for my bus.  I hopped on the bus and headed for Ranong.  I arrived in Ranong around 7pm.  I walked down the quiet street until I could find someone to get me to the public bus station to take me to Pak Song, where I booked two nights in Pak Song, 1 hour from Ranong.  I found an outdoor restaurant with some locals.  After much translation and language barrier, I was told that the last public bus had already left and that I should find a place to stay in Ranong.  A lady chef sent her brother my way.  He spoke little English.  I was told that he would take me to his sister's hotel and bring me to the bus station by 10am the next day.

The next thing I knew my luggage was loaded in his motorbike side-cart, he said for 40 baht. Off we went. We drove, drove, and drove some more.  I noticed we were going outside of the city. I was not a fan and rather disappointed.  I told the locals that I wanted to stay near the public bus station, yet here I was leaving the city.  I had a moment of, where is this guy taking me? I told him several times, "too far, too far. I want to be near the bus station." He just kept saying, "yes, yes I take you to hotel and bus station tomorrow." I was clearly getting no where with him.  I was really starting to question my decision of getting on the side-cart with him.  Soon we were up a gravel mountain road, not much of anything anywhere.  Finally we got to a destination, a beautiful, quaint hotel resort in the mountains.  I crossed a swaying bridge to get to the grounds where I was led to a small bungalow for 200 baht.  The room had a fan, window, twin bed, pillow, and a small bathroom.  I think I was the only one staying there, maybe 1 or two Thai families.  I went to sleep to crickets, swaying banana leaves, cool mountain air, and quiet music in the distance.  I made an agreement to be ready by 9am to head to the bus station in the morning. 

At 7:30am I had a knock on my door, luckily I was up with roosters yet again.  We headed out via pickup - I saw the pickup and knew that there was a catch.  I knew he was going to ask for more money beings he had an actual vehicle.  I will just say that this man was definitely a player and a 'scammer' and I would not do business with him again. He ended up taking money from my hands, conversing with me in Thai, and then took off with my money.  All in all it was about the equivalent of 8 dollars, but it really upset me as I have been rather frugal with my money.  8 dollars here is the equivalent of a decent nights stay, or maybe a meal and an 'ok' stay, or 3 really good meals. In other words he took adventure time from me - my hope is that he takes that money and puts it towards one of his kids' education. Off I went on the bus, arrived near my current location, TCDF Eco Logic, a non-profit organization.  Any money that comes into the resort is used on its own grounds, funding education for children, children with disabilities, families with financial constraints, and those that need to learn new skill sets.  The organization is almost completely run by volunteers. Quite beautiful. It's a tropical jungle.  It's where the wild things are.