| I arrived in Trang yesterday after a 10 hour bus ride from Hua Hin. The one rest area we stopped at was maybe 2 hours into the bus ride (the route started in Bangkok, but they make stops based on request, it seems. I arrived in the Trang bus terminal around 8 PM with no idea where I was. No taxis or tuk tuks. The only option was to take a motorbike cab. Did I mention I've never been on a motorbike before? Like what's even proper etiquette when you're on the back? The hostel in Trang was pretty cool. Night market nearby where I found all sorts of cool foods I haven't seen so far. Seems like a lot of custardy pastries with fruit in them. There was some weird looking seafood I wanted to try the next day, but the next morning, there was a little problem. I double-booked for the 19th. My room in Trang was booked for the 19th and 20th, and Hua Hin was booked through the 19th. Sure enough, my first night in the island Koh Sukorn was booked for the 21st. Uh, oops? Well, I got the hostel to call what they called a public taxi. This might be a good time to mention this usually leaves at 11 am, and I found out about the double-booking at 10:15. The taxi comes, and it's closer to a pickup truck with tiny benches. I suppose this is what I knew I'd be signing up for. There's maybe a dozen people in there. The taxi brings us directly to the pier, where we boarded by far the jankiest boat I have ever been on. The wood almost seemed loose and stepping on one side would tilt the boat further than you'd expect. I mean we made it across alive so that's something, right? The island has some beautiful, off-the-beaten-path beaches. I'm not much of a beach person, but maybe it's because the ones in Jersey are pretty trashy (including the literal trash). You can even see tiny crabs and their eggs everywhere (some as big as a pebble). I'm staying in a Bungalow near the beach, and I've barely seen anyone else here. So that was all yesterday. Today, I rented a bicycle. I suppose I had the option of a motorbike and this would be an excellent chance to try one due to the minimal traffic here. Ah well. There are three villages in the island: Ban Laem, Ban Thung, and Ban Siammai. Bare in mind my reasons for staying longer in one village over another is entirely situational. I spent at least two hours in Ban Thung, with a family who runs a small grocery store and sells fried bananas (I ate a few, but I'm not supposed to eat fried food, urgh). Their English was extremely limited, and the kids got their textbooks to practice with me, which was fun. Some of the words were misspelled, and it bothered me to the point I had to scratch it out (ex. thanks you, lemonage, bachache). We played a bit of soccer, which I'm not really good at. That said, it did result in me teaching one of the kids how to do a Chapeu de Couro (google it). Hopefully he's showing off to his friends. I biked through Ban Laem, didn't stop very much. I'm definitely getting more stares here than closer to Bangkok, and a bunch of random hellos. I expected it, but it feels strange to be in the center of attention so much. I then biked out to Ban Siammai, which seems a little more active than the other villages. I stopped in one store full of guys watching a Muay Thai match on TV (no pictures, slipped my mind :[ ). They were really into it. I went to complete the full lap around the island (about 8 km). Turns out the last leg takes me up through the mountains, and then through the woods, where I lost track of the paved trail for a while. Hm. Lost in the woods with a something one rides manually. About 3 days until I leave Thailand. You've met a terrible fate, haven't you? |
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September 2015
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