18 hours to Phuket (hookerville)

Post date: 31-Dec-2009 05:49:12

Colin and I left the luxury of Lub d hostel in Bangkok, to spend the night of Dec 11th and most of the morning on Dec 12, 2009 on an 18 hour bus ride to Phuket. Why take the bus you may ask? Well it was half the price of flying, saved us on the cost of one night of accommodation and was quite the experience.

We were on an air conditioned double decker bus where the odour of drunk, horking American boys wafted up to the quiet top deck where we were hiding with two other couples our age. It was so kind of the American boys to get shit faced for an 18 hour bus ride with one toilet (that could not be flushed). At least we stopped every 4-5 hours, so I was able to hold my pee for that long.

The two couples that we talked to had the misfortune of having to take a van with the American boys to the bus station. I can't blame Americans for pretending to be Canadians when they travel because the couple from Germany and from Holland were not very impressed by the American boys either. The two couples that we talked to had the same "rip off" experiences that we did in Bangkok and it was fun to exchange similar stories.

We managed to do lots of reading, listen to lots of podcasts and get a few hours of sleep with the super sudsy soaped up wool blankets that were provided on the bus. My hands were covered in a visible film from the blanket. We were very happy to arrive at the 3rd Street Cafe Guesthouse by Kata Beach.

It was good that we had great accommodations and a nice beach with warm tropical water because it made up for the area and the nightlife that we were exposed to near Kata Beach. Thailand is NOT a place to go for a family vacation unless you plan to never leave your hotel after dark. Colin and I did not stay out late, but to walk to our favourite nearby restaurant, Po (great Thai food, western food and coconut shakes) we had to walk by the prostitute bars. Every night starting at supper time the Thai girls are out shaking their stuff and trying to pull male tourists into the bars. We walked on the bar side of the street only once and a girl tried to grab Colin even though he was holding my hand and walking with me! We opted instead to walk on the side of the street with all the shops and get haggled by vendors instead.

The sex tourism is extremely appalling and in your face. Everytime I saw a foreigner with a skanked out Thai lady I could not help but think: illigetimate relationship. Who is buying who here? The guy is getting booty and quite often the girls are seen getting wined and dined in the same restaurants where we are eating. Talk about ruining a great appetite for Pad Thai.

We enjoyed Kata Beach except for the jellyfish stings. When the water was calmest the most jellyfish seemed to be out and most of the time we could not see them. One minute you're swimming along and the next your arm or leg is stinging like crazy. We should have purchased this product to protect us from the sun and jelly fish stings.