Taking the Tuk Tuk Express - A Four Part Mini-Series (Part 2 of 4)

From last we left off, our hero was about to head to the bus to partake in the next part of his journey. . . .

We were escorted to a "VIP" double decker bus. Or I should say the coffin on wheels. That's what I felt like we were in. Apparently, we got the crappy end of this deal. The majority of the people were sitting on the top part of the bus and only an unlucky few of us were in the bottom. The ceiling was so low we couldn't even stand up straight. I swear the bus wasn't a double decker at all but a regular bus where they converted the luggage compartment into another layer. Ironically there wasn't a place to put our luggage. We started our journey down south. This was about a 7 hour drive to a small town where we had to catch a fairy. Now, the beginning of the drive wasn't too bad. Granted we were packed in like sardines, but there were a couple friendly people we were able to talk to. One guy was from the states and he seemed like a nice guy. Lived in Thailand for over 3 years, heard some interesting stories about his life. Interesting ... until we started realizing he was making it all up. Apparently he owns his own beach front property as well as 3 other places in Thailand, but he's a teacher. Oh yeah and he opened up his own school where he got over 100 students in the first month he started. Yeah, this guys eyes were so brown from shovelling it in. Leanne and I got a kick out of the fact that he needed to find somewhere to plug his laptop in because he had so much "work" to do. When he finally found a place, all we could here were gun shots from a game ... I'm sure it was important work. Unfortunately, I think this guy was injected with a gramophone because he would not shut up the whole time. He was like the Energizer Bunny. Even when Leanne and I put our headphones on to listen to music? Did not get a clue. We drove for about 4 hours, took about a half hour break at a rest stop and then continued for another 3 hours. The last 2 hours were sheer hell for me. Normally, I never get car sick, but I started feeling pretty bad. It didn't help that I was facing the back, the bus driver was a crazy maniac and the roads were incredibly windy and bumpy. I think the real reason why I was getting nauseous was because I was overtired since I couldn't sleep. It got worse when a guy decided to stretch out on the aisle blocking the only exit from the bus. That's when I realized ... low ceiling, crammed way in the back, no access to the outside ... Joe's in a small space! And the claustrophobia kicks in. I was ready to jump out the window. Luckily the bus stopped shortly after that to drop us off. That was quite the relief, or was it?

We got dropped off in what looked like the middle of nowhere. I mean litterally dropped off and within seconds the driver was gone. No explanation on what was going on. So, it's 2 am, pitch black, no one around except these guys who were offering us a ride to the fairy ... on their motorbikes. Yeah, that was going to happen! We waited and waited and waited. Throughout the night, more people came. Same situation, dropped off a bus and the driver gone. All of us were like a herd of sheep, wandering aimlessly, no idea what's going on. Finally, at around 5 am, a van pulled up to pick all of us up ... all, except Leanne and I and another couple from France. Apparently we booked our ticket from a different company so the driver wouldn't take us. So, we had to wait longer. Finally, one of us (Leanne) had the bright idea of checking our ticket. Luckily there was a phone number on the bottom. So, Leanne decided to call. At this point, you have to imagine ... we were tired, we were hot, we were worried ... can you imagine how we're feeling? Not exactly the happiest bunch. So, we didn't care what time it was, we were going to get to the bottom of this. Apparently, Leanne woke some guy up (again not caring) and Leanne asked him if someone was going to pick us up. I guess this guy quickly jumped out of bed and told her he would be there in 5 minutes. It turns out, this wonderful travel agent who organized our ticket forgot to call the place who was suppose to pick us up ... nice! Long story short, we made it to the fairy at around 7:00 and took off to Koh Tao, one of the islands in the Gulf of Thailand. The boat ride was about 2 and a half hours. Now, again you have to imagine, after a long trip from hell, there's no smiles on our faces. In fact, I was almost ready to pack up and go. If one more thing happens, I was going to. Luckily, from then on it was smooth sailing. Well, with a few waves of course and one nearly overboard falling. Ok, so it didn't go quite as smootjly as I hoped. When we got off the boat, again avoiding all the people who are on you like a kid in a candy shop, we came across a woman who had our names and she directed us to a "tuk tuk" that would take us to our hotel (actually it was more of a resort). Now, that we're on the islands, the tuk tuk's here are a little different. It's called riding the back of a pick up truck. We arrived at the resort called Sunshine Resort. All we wanted to do was get rid of our backpacks and sleep. Well, unfortunately that didn't happen right away. Our room wasn't ready yet, so we had to wait about an hour. When we finally got into our room, it was absolutely stifling. I guess picking the fan room was probably not the brightest idea. but anyway, at that point we didn't care. We blared the fan, dropped our bags, layed on our beds and slept for what seemed like days. An hour later, I must have got woken up by someone throwing water on me because I was completely drenched. Oh right, it was my own sweat. Leanne was also awake feeling the same way. We looked at each other and realized we didn't need to say it ... Air Conditioning Room!!! I got up and went to the office and asked if there were an AC rooms. Luckily there was one ... Phew! Of course, again like the rest of the day, nothing was going very smoothly. We ended up paying extra money, which we knew we would, but didn't realize it was more than what the actual charge was. Again, our little Thai buddy's from the travel agency took us. I guess we had to pay some sort of interest fee or something. Anyway, the whole situation was just stupid. at that point we didn't care just get us in a freakin AC room so we can at least feel a little more human. Now, before any of you start thinking how much we spent for this place and start imagining hundreds of dollars, the whole thing still came out to about $30 US a night for an actual cabin, not a hotel room. So, we were still fine.

OK, so a lot of you are probably thinking right now that this trip is not turning out to be the greatest. Well, after a long shower and feeling much more human, we decided to walk around and actually explore the place we're staying at. We took one look at the place and the only word that came to mind was "wow". This place is quite nice. Unfortunately there wasn't much of a beach area, but Koh Tao (pronounced Koe Tow) is actually known for it's scuba diving and snorkelling. In fact the resort we were at had a lot of scuba diving schools. People who stay on this island aren't there to lie on the beach and get a tan, but rather go out in the water and experience the underwater sea life. We explored the area, walking around along the water and actually putting our feet in the water for a while. The water was beautiful, crystal clear.

After surviving our trip to the Sunshine resort, we realized that this place is actually very nice, very laid back. It's funny, as we're walking around, we couldn't help but notice all the people lazying around in their hammicks or on their couches, snoring away. And these were the people working. But, it's definitely a common thing here and if you saw this place, you'd realize it just fits. In fact the little pubs along the water, have cushions that people lounge on while drinking their cocktails and watch the water or listen to the waves.

We decided to get organized with our next day plans. We arranged for an all day snorkelling trip. Originally, I was going to go scuba diving, but unfortunately I couldn't. Apparently, the company couldn't find my PADI information online and I misplaced my license a long time ago. So, unless I wanted to take the 4 day course, I couldn't go. I was very disappointed, but found out later it was for the better because when I was snorkelling, I dove only a few meters and ended up getting an ear infection. But, a part from that, our next days snorkelling trip was quite amazing. They took us to four different places. Each place was different but equally as beautiful. I managed to see tonnes of coral, lots of fish of course and was even lucky enough to see a couple shark. The tour we were on provided the most amazing lunch with freah fish, they got earlier from a fishing boat. I do have to say, Thai food is excellent. I can certainly handle it.

After a spectacular day of snorkelling we came back around 6 or so and decided to get cleaned up and see what these little pubs along the water were like. So, we went to one called the Eazy Bar. If you want a place to relax, lay around, listen to the water and contemplate life? ... Then you got the Eazy Bar. Actually, that's pretty much every bar here. This bar has the flashy neon lights around a what looks like a grass hut. There's the white lights dangling from some of the trees as well as the black light hanging from the others. Creating a very 80's, Tom Cruise in Cocktail atmosphere. Minus the active bar tenders throwing the bottles around of course. They were playing "interesting" music, mostly 80's which sometimes is OK. I think we kind of drew the line when they started playing Boney M. After couple drinks there, we were getting pretty hungry, so decided to walk along to see what else was around. We noticed a place the night before that looked like a giant BBQ/buffet. So, we figured we'd try that. What a treat that was. There were tonnes of fresh food just waiting for us to savor. I couldn't name everything there. I mean we're talking every kind of meats, both from the sea and from land, vegetables, fruits, salads. I had trouble deciding what to have ... so naturally took everything. Well, not really, but certainly felt like it at the end of the night. It was a perfect way to end a perfect day! Of course after our great meal, we tried a few other pubs, but actually ended up going back to the original Eazy Bar. By that time, the bar realized after everyone left that it was probaly a good idea to turn off Boney M and put something else on. Ironically that brought more people back ... hmmmm, imagine that. Leanne ended up heading to bed earlier. I just stayed and lounged on the cushion at the pub. Now, normally I would never stay at a bar by myself. Some of you can probably back me up on that ... going to a bar by myself is just not my thing. But there, it just felt ... well, right. Laying around, listening to music, at the same time listening to the waves. It was great. I even ended up meeting a friend later on ... someone's dog (there's lots around, roaming around on their own) decided to come up to me and just plop down beside me. Apparently, I still got it (insert pathetic eye rolling here). Anyway, I think I ended up staying up until about 2 am.

So, after 2 days of seeing this beautiful island of Koh Tao, we decided to pack up and move onto our next destination, Koh Samui. We left around 10 am or so ... maybe later, maybe earlier. At that point, we didn't care.

Although our hero did not end up getting involved in any other dangerous adventures, he felt maybe having a few quiet nights would be OK. Our hero, rode in his private limo (Tuk Tuk) to his private yacht (the fairy) and sailed on to his next destination.

To be continued ....