Plane lands and I head out to the land of beaches! It’s just after 9pm as I head towards the taxi stand and to my surprise see there is a shuttle bus to Patong for 180 baht! Say what?! Sold! I was expecting to pay 700-800 baht for a taxi!
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I head out of the terminal and find a few other young backpacker types waiting. All of them speak English as a second language, however this is also the language we all have in common, including the driver, so somehow I became the translator from the driver to the other passengers… maybe I’m finally learning Thai? Actually I think I’m just good at reading hands ;).
The van is all full by the time we leave so the driver asks me to sit up front with him. Cool.
Everything is nice thus far. He tries to talk to me a bit and me to him but it’s tough when I don’t speak Thai. I seriously wish I could speak every language in this whole beautiful world!
Anyway, this is when things start to get a bit strange and that saying ‘you get what you pay for’ comes to mind. I was told before coming here that the Thai mafia runs Phuket and now I think they might be right! So about 20 minutes into our hour journey from the airport we stop at a building on the side of the road. I’m not sure what’s going on but the driver seems worried there’s no one to meet us. About ten minutes later, a woman emerges who looks like maybe she could be on the Thai version of the Sopranos. She opens the door and tells us all to get out. Uh… ok? I’m pretty sure I paid for a transfer to Patong Beach?
Finally we go inside the building and a woman asks if we want some day tours, before checking our hotels. I said I was fine and she let me go back outside. As I waited for the others I noticed a kind looking Thai gentleman wearing a gold chain and smoking. He was talking to this cute dog (I’m a sucker for animals!). He noticed me staring and I’m guessing asked me to come over. I did. He tried to talk to me in Thai, but I sadly didn’t know what he was saying. He made a command and the dog raised his right paw up, the man made another command and the dog raised his left paw up! Aw so cute!! By this time the rest of the shuttle had gotten out of their day tours and we all got back on the minibus.
And off we went!
Suddenly, though, I felt as if the driver was late for something. He begins whizzing and racing around the sharp corners and steep hills. He’s now put on his favorite techno/club CD mix on full blast as our soundtrack. It reminded me of the music my dear friend Jen and I use to dance to in Vegas… aw Vegas ;). Except the songs were all covers!
This continued for the rest of the journey. My favorite was when we were crossing the hill/mountain, and we were in a minibus mind you, and he tried to follow the motorbikes on the shoulder past the other minibuses (it was a small two lane road!). Aw I love Thailand.
I make it to my place by 10:30 (which is absolutely stunning by the way! Lub D Patong Phuket if you want a nice, clean, and cheap place within walking distance to the beach!), and I’m showered and in bed within the next hour.
And tomorrow I head to Maya Bay (yes of The Beach fame!). I’m very excited!! Night friends! Love you all so dearly! đŸ™‚
View from my room’s balcony :).
Lub D sitting area đŸ™‚
