The Bus Stop

My Dad says there are 2 kinds of people: those that know where they are going when they get to the bus stop (the well thought-out and perhaps less adventurous amongst us) and those that have no idea (perhaps the more spontaneous, like my mother, so he says).

While I'd usually always associate myself with the former, today I realised that FINDING the bus stop is the hardest part...

My first few days travelling alone have been unusual to say the least. I brought a standard boat-bus transfer ticket from Koh Phi Phi and headed north to Khao Sok National Park. I was the only one travelling there and perhaps I should have taken this as a sign.
The rather unhelpful driver dropped me off at the entrance to the national park, so I walked in the pouring rain in search of accommodation.
I was well and truly in the thick of it! The jungle noises were almost deafening and there was no one in sight. It was extremely dark and fireflies were the only thing lighting my path. I found a small inn called 'Bamboo Village' a quiet collection of huts for tourists.... Except I was the only tourist there. Knowing I was only going to be in Khao Sok for one night, I opted for the cheapest 'room' for 200 baht.... A small, rickety hut with holes in the walls and a poor excuse of a mosquito net. Oh, and no toilet!
The next morning I got up early (covered in bites!) to walk around the park. I was quite restricted as it had rained a lot and some of the trails were waterlogged. It was still a beautiful area to view though, with the most exotic birds I have ever seen nesting in the vine-ridden trees. The entrance to the park might as well of read 'Welcome to Jurassic Park....' There were gorgeous streams, huge flowers, dangerous looking plants, towering cliffs, but lacking the t-rex. Apparently in high season, tourists can see bears and wild tigers in the park...but I had no such luck! Although I did see a HUGE toad.
After a busy morning, my next stop was Hua Hin. A tricky place to get to from Khao Sok it would seem. The small tourist hut in the national park told me it would be 900 baht to reach Hua Hin using their tourist transfer methods, unless I opt for the local bus service, swapping buses in Surat Thani. At 500 baht cheaper, I opted for this choice.
Strapping my back pack on my back I headed to the bus stop! I walked miles and miles down the (only) road leading out of the national park and realised slowly I had no idea where on earth the bus stop was. A friendly van driver passing laughed and said '3 more kilometres!!' as he waved me on in the right direction. Brilliant.

The local bus service is NOTHING like the quiet air-conditioned buses I've become used to. They are noisy and packed full of Thais headed in all sorts of directions and the bus driver insists on playing his own collection of cheesy thai music at full blast so not even my ipod can cover the sound! They are very friendly places though, with almost every Thai getting on the bus paying an interest in my trip to their country.

After a 3 hour wait at Surat Thani bus stop to change buses I was finally en route to Hua Hin, an overnight journey north, where luckily I'd booked ahead into a small and friendly guesthouse with hot showers and air-conditioned rooms in the heart of town (overshadowed by the huge Hilton opposite...sob!). I'm looking forward to some hustle and bustle, some more beach time and maybe a spot of shopping!

Moral of this story: get a taxi to the bus stop! The rest is easy....


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