Nov. 1 ’09:
Around 6pm in Chiang Mai
We’re in the middle of hunting for a stir-fried street dinner when Charlie gets a call from an agency in Bangkok offering a well paying replacement gig, teaching kindergarten in a place called Chumphon, in the south of Thailand. “If you’re interested, we need to meet you in the city by tomorrow” says the broken English voice on the other end. We know that’s not gonna happen, but we’ve also learned that when Thai people give a time, they always leave a big buffer.
7:00 pm - Back at our Buddhist abode, The Tah Phae Gate guest house, we research our new and potentially more permanent whereabouts and get stoked. Chumphon appears to be an un-tapped area, in terms of beaches, caves, mountains and jungles, all with virtually no stain of tourist non-sense. Decision made. We leave tomorrow.
8:00 pm to 11:30 pm - With a fresh new anticipation of the days ahead, we hit the streets for one last night in Chiang Mai, which surely could not have been a better night to be out and about, as it is the 2nd night of Loi Krathong, a very big celebration of rebirth or “letting go of all the bad shit to make room for good” as one local explained to me. The way they do this is by sending candles on small rafts made of bread n’ banana leaves down the canal, as well as sending floating lanterns of fire into the sky. On this night there was also a parade, which we fast-forwarded by walking to the end of it.
Nov. 2 ’09:
11:30 am – we check out of our room and head straight for the café advertising the biggest breakfast. Today is gonna be a long one. During this time a text message comes through from the agency; “when can we meet?”
12:40 pm – Charlie books our bus tickets for the long ride back to Bangkok, while I stock up on snacks for the journey.
1:00 pm to 4:45 pm – We set up on a grassy area to read n’ write and hang out with wild dogs while we wait for the bus to pick us up at 5:00.
5:30 pm- still no bus. Charlie shaves her legs in public because she’s a radical chick and I’m happy to sit beside her and read as if it’s normal.
6:15 pm – a sporty lookin’ Thai dude comes running down the street at us yelling “we leave now!” He grabs one of my bags and we follow him quickly to an enclosed truck with a handful of other travelers in the back of it. We throw all of our luggage on the roof and gun it out of town.
6:35 pm – at the city limits, the truck unloads us at a gas station where a huge, ratty bus is waiting to take us on a 12 hour night ride.
10:20 pm – as we progress farther n’ farther out of the north, I’m almost in tears at the surreal window view of hundreds of floating lanterns ascending the sky in the distance. They look like spirits of hope. I go deep into a state of indescribable happiness.
Nov. 3 ’09: Somewhere on the super-highway to Bangkok
1:00 am – the bus makes it’s first and only stop at a small, side of the road food stand with not a lot of options of weird shit to eat. I split my meal with a wild dog who knows how to shake a paw.
7:15 am – 8:08 am – we get off the bus, just a block away from Khao San Road and troop our way to the closest hotel to hang out in the lobby, grab a bite, and await instructions from a lady named Chilipa who offered Charlie the job. At this point I realize I might have dropped the phone out of my baggy pockets on the bus.
8:12 am – I call our phone and talk to a man who can only say “I have it” but all other efforts of communication are useless. I grab a taxi driver who can speak decent English off the street and get him to translate for me. I know already I’m going to pay extra for this. We settle a long debated deal for a cab ride there (and back) to the man with my phone for 700 baht. The phone cost about 1000 baht. Let’s go you prick!
8:40 am – I meet up with the bus driver, who has my phone. He wants 100 baht for it, which is only $3.00 but I’m beginning to see red. I wanna wipe my ass with the money first, but instead I put it in his hand and grip it with a firm handshake. We both smile fake smiles.
9:00 am- my taxi friend and I get stuck in morning traffic on the way back to the hotel. He teaches me some language tips and lessons on Buddhism. My 700 baht is going the distance.
9:17 am – I get back to the hotel, where Charlie is ready to rock for an interview in wrinkled dress clothes. I grab a quick meal and we try n’ figure out where the hell we’re going.
10:10 am – After some confusing talk with Chilipa, we hop in another taxi to her agency office. We’ve been awake and on the move for 24 hours now and my gut is doing some twisted stuff.
10:25 am to 11: 11 am – The interview goes smooth, despite the fact that we probably smell like hot garbage. Chilipa is a super nice lady. She arranges our taxi ride to the bus station for a 6 hour journey to Chumphon.
11:40 am to 2:00 pm – the clock spins like a loose wheel as we wait for the bus in a station that is more like a shopping mall. I finally get a glorious ten minutes in the bathroom and then have duck soup for lunch.
2:15 pm to 8:15 pm – during this trip we listen to audio books on the Thai language and watch a horror movie. I finally get some sleep but Charlie is a god-damn trucker.
8:45 pm – we lug our bags down one of the main streets of our new town, looking for a place to temporarily die. Not many people speak English here. I like the challenge but not tonight. We run into two Brits who direct us to a hotel just around the corner.
9:00 pm – this hotel sucks. Good night.
Nov. 4 ’09: Chumphon
9:35 am to 11:20 am – up n’ out and ready to find our way in this place. Western style breakfast in the hotel café while I get on the internet and Charlie contacts the school she’s teaching at. They want to bring her in for the afternoon. No time to relocate to a new hotel so I stay in the café lookin’ for places online, while my teacher girlfriend goes off to school.
4:15 pm – excited teacher Charlie and I seek Suda, the name that I was given. We tell Suda what we’re looking for and she makes a call.
4:20 pm – a truck pulls up outside Suda’s house and short, round lady gets out for a brief introduction and understanding of what’s going on. We leave our luggage at Suda’s and hop in the truck to go see the house for rent.
7:40 pm to 8:15 pm – we find ourselves at the dinner table of another Thai family. The short, round lady introduces herself and her 2 siblings; Poom, Pom(the sister) and (the brother) Pui. Her mother and father are also at the table. The father has recently gone blind and is still coming to grips with his new challenge. He asks us questions about where we’re from and draws a conclusion, proclaiming “one young man, one young woman, nice people.” After his approval we indulge in the food, which is the spiciest I’ve tasted yet. I make a silent fool of myself, but nobody seems to mind.
9:09 pm – after picking up our luggage and taking a quick walk through the night market, we return to our new home; a half furnished 2 bedroom, one bathroom, with a kitchen and all the necessities – a very difficult thing to find in this town. We put on Elmore James tunes and un-pack. Finally, a more permanent address, with everything we need, in quiet jungle area of a town we already like, where we can relax…. and then get back to work.
HOME!I kind of wrote this all as it unfolded for us, which may come across now as either a really lucky expedition, where we rolled with everything and trusted everyone or as a frustrating ball of many hours, hoping we’d end up somewhere safe. I guess it was a bit of both, but that is what I love most about traveling. And to set the record straight, I always carry a spyderco camping knife, as sharp as the devil himself, in a bag that is always slung around my shoulder.
