Third day in Thailand, three children on a hotel bed, this journey already feels like three years. Three minutes is more like it.
Now there were three minutes of silence and there they’re gone. “Get off my bed!”, “Leave me alone!” “He nags me!” Grrrrr you cute little puppies, mommy is about to lose it. No, not really. Our puppies are truly awesome, and during the last three days they went through quite a bit. My small transportation empires, moving from grandfather’s car to the airport conveyors, a small plane to Amman, a bigger plane to Bangkok – only seven hour flight but a fine example of a premium behavior. From there – a taxi. For the first time in our life we travel with a child on our laps and rather than in a safety or booster seat. We are five – what else could we do..
After the taxi there was a tuk tuk in Bangkok, night train to the south of the country, in sleeper cabins, a cool and exciting experience for us all, a vehicle referred to here as “bus” which is more of a traveling shaker, a ferry, and a pickup van referred to here as “taxi”, in which the mother was respectfully invited to sit in the air conditioned front seat while the father, children and backpacks stay swaying about in the rear open trunk, like locals. I really appreciate the attitude of the locals on this issue, of course. Honestly, they moved me.
Bangkok traffic
We stayed in Bangkok just briefly, a guest house with shared bathrooms, a somewhat questionable experience but insanely cheap and most important – located literally five meters from the train station from which we would set out towards the islands. Even the taxi driver did not know how to get us there from the airport. It was that close to being kicked out disgracefully from our first taxi in Thailand, but in the end as a kind of magic the guesthouse was found and I have to admit that as questionable as this place might be the delightful little Thai guy who carried our bags, checked us in and was super cute and service oriented, was seen with my own eyes getting at the end of his working day into a fucking Mercedes. Now you tell me if this is a good deal or not.
And back to the night train … We waited on the floor of the waiting zone of Hua Lamphong – the Main Railway station in Bangkok, very clean, if you’re wondering. Like true backpackers, we lay down on the floor and ate fruits from a plastic tray we bought at the supermarket, cut in front of us, of course. The train was an attraction for itself, I kid you not, a real hit. I personally slept like a baby in the pleasant jolt of the train, the noise did not bother me at all and the whole business is a huge success for me. I am willing to repeat it anytime. In my opinion, it is also possible to have sex on a train, in fact I suspect this by itself is quite cool, with these adorable green curtains that give you privacy and these lovely vibrations and the white screening noise from the main railway and the memories of the days that we all had sex on single beds. In short, let’s just say that: a. It still might happen and b. You will not hear it from me. Try it yourself.
Sleeper cabins in night train from Bangkok to Chumphon
And now we are in Koh Tao. A small and very sweet island that we still did not really find the time to explore since the first day just flew away. The kids were hanging around a little in the hotel’s pool. We toured around in an attempt to find a house to live in for a month without any results yet. Staying in the hotel is not an option. It’s insanely expensive and we have budgeted here only 4 nights, until then we’ll have to find us a place within a reasonable distance from the diving club and to organize ourselves a bit.
We’ve noticed that some things here cost the same everywhere and no one breaks the market, for example laundry – 50 Baht per kilo for everyone without exception or Massage – 300 baht for everyone. No exceptions. There are some restaurants that have “happy hour” that exactly fits the time that families become hungry for dinner. Tomorrow we are about to test our bargaining skills in getting a nice place to stay in.
