Escourted from Ban Pong by the Police...
Next day after a bit more chillout on the grass with the quality guitar
playing we headed in the direction of Ko Tao. This time our chosen mode of transport was Motorbike and Sidecar...with all our luggage thrown in for especially long stopping distances! For that matter any sudden stop would have resulted in the sidecar plunging towards the tarmac and us being thrown every which way on impact! Well we've decided its necessary to try all modes of transport after the previous day's Rickshaw ride where Martin and I could barely fit our hip in together...good job we're not women or taking any of those crazy pills the chickboys out here love so much!
Grabbed a bus to Ban P
ong and arrived there in the dark. We didn't have a map or a sodding clue in all fairness where the rail station might be so we tried to ask the locals and got pointed some direction called forwards with no notion of how far it might be. After failing to find a taxi at the local Buddha On An illuminated Totem Pole, we decided to ask in the local police station situated conveniently behind us.
When we walked in and started asking for choo-choo, woo-a-woo and moving our arms in a locomotive action they sent for someone...well I would have done - though who I'd of sent for if I was already in a Police station I
don't know! So he came out and ushered just me into a room. Then I really hesitated, beginning to see that there may have been a flaw in our plan. I went in anyway though slowly and checking the door behind remained open and the windows didn't have bars on them! Turned out I was just being directed to a guy who spoke English...kind of. So after more charades and blank looks we ascertained that the station could be reached by some mode of transport and we were ushered out down the steps and into a waiting Police pickup complete with escourt!! After our initial doubts about whether we were headed to the station or the Psyche ward we arrived in style and to the amusement of the locals! We offered the police some money for the pleasure and they wouldn't accept it - I was very impressed - would have been a completely different story in Mexico!
After being directed by the stationmaster to walk 200m down the platform to get to our carriage (he wasn't joking!) we ended up on the wrong train! Great. This meant all the Thai guards wanted us out of the carriages they were responsible for. We were basically being shepherded to no-mans land between the carriages...pretty much mid-air, when one enterprising Thai decided we should sit in his carriage so he could sell us a few bevvies! Alcohol truely does solve every situation. Finally we got on the right train and I got to eat my awesome street-stall Pad Thai. No bins on the train though called for desperate measures so it dissappeared through the hole in the floor which is the toilet and on to the track...well I think the chopsticks got stuck actually but hey!
Next morning 5am we arrived at a station and got to sit there listening to Martin's tunes! The tension of reaching the next chord was still present as in the video you'll be pleased to hear!
The Ferry ride to Ko Tao was beautiful which was good seeing a Chumphon where it leaves from is a dump! Arriving at Ko Tao involved being hassled by everyone on the island who's brother, sister, uncle and grandmother's best-friends niece's sister has a dive school! We made them up and made an awesome choice - BigBubble Diving - which was 5* PADI as we wanted and a big enough school but small enough so it was still nice and personal. Whether this is a good thing considering a ladyboy is one of the people who run it is a matter of personal preference I guess haha!!
That night we hit Easy Bar, Viewpoint Restaurant (absolutely beautiful on stilts over the rocks) and a beach party with some people we'd met earlier. A great night though we had to wait until the crazy psyche-trance had been replaced by some more funky Too Many DJ's style stuff before we ventured too close. After almost falling asleep on the beach it was time to go home come 4am!
playing we headed in the direction of Ko Tao. This time our chosen mode of transport was Motorbike and Sidecar...with all our luggage thrown in for especially long stopping distances! For that matter any sudden stop would have resulted in the sidecar plunging towards the tarmac and us being thrown every which way on impact! Well we've decided its necessary to try all modes of transport after the previous day's Rickshaw ride where Martin and I could barely fit our hip in together...good job we're not women or taking any of those crazy pills the chickboys out here love so much!Grabbed a bus to Ban P
ong and arrived there in the dark. We didn't have a map or a sodding clue in all fairness where the rail station might be so we tried to ask the locals and got pointed some direction called forwards with no notion of how far it might be. After failing to find a taxi at the local Buddha On An illuminated Totem Pole, we decided to ask in the local police station situated conveniently behind us.When we walked in and started asking for choo-choo, woo-a-woo and moving our arms in a locomotive action they sent for someone...well I would have done - though who I'd of sent for if I was already in a Police station I
don't know! So he came out and ushered just me into a room. Then I really hesitated, beginning to see that there may have been a flaw in our plan. I went in anyway though slowly and checking the door behind remained open and the windows didn't have bars on them! Turned out I was just being directed to a guy who spoke English...kind of. So after more charades and blank looks we ascertained that the station could be reached by some mode of transport and we were ushered out down the steps and into a waiting Police pickup complete with escourt!! After our initial doubts about whether we were headed to the station or the Psyche ward we arrived in style and to the amusement of the locals! We offered the police some money for the pleasure and they wouldn't accept it - I was very impressed - would have been a completely different story in Mexico!
After being directed by the stationmaster to walk 200m down the platform to get to our carriage (he wasn't joking!) we ended up on the wrong train! Great. This meant all the Thai guards wanted us out of the carriages they were responsible for. We were basically being shepherded to no-mans land between the carriages...pretty much mid-air, when one enterprising Thai decided we should sit in his carriage so he could sell us a few bevvies! Alcohol truely does solve every situation. Finally we got on the right train and I got to eat my awesome street-stall Pad Thai. No bins on the train though called for desperate measures so it dissappeared through the hole in the floor which is the toilet and on to the track...well I think the chopsticks got stuck actually but hey!
Next morning 5am we arrived at a station and got to sit there listening to Martin's tunes! The tension of reaching the next chord was still present as in the video you'll be pleased to hear!
The Ferry ride to Ko Tao was beautiful which was good seeing a Chumphon where it leaves from is a dump! Arriving at Ko Tao involved being hassled by everyone on the island who's brother, sister, uncle and grandmother's best-friends niece's sister has a dive school! We made them up and made an awesome choice - BigBubble Diving - which was 5* PADI as we wanted and a big enough school but small enough so it was still nice and personal. Whether this is a good thing considering a ladyboy is one of the people who run it is a matter of personal preference I guess haha!!
That night we hit Easy Bar, Viewpoint Restaurant (absolutely beautiful on stilts over the rocks) and a beach party with some people we'd met earlier. A great night though we had to wait until the crazy psyche-trance had been replaced by some more funky Too Many DJ's style stuff before we ventured too close. After almost falling asleep on the beach it was time to go home come 4am!
posted by Ian Matthias at
9/11/2006 01:06:00 pm
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