February 4th- 5th, where am I?

We left Bangkok by bus at 6pm. We went to the travel agency where we were supposed to be picked up, and a young thai guy showed up on foot, and marched us through the busy streets of Bangkok with our backpacks, picking up other groups along the way. Eventually we arrived at some buses, and everyone got different colour stickers depending on the island they were going to. I kind of hate being herded around and split into groups and barked orders at all in the heat and humidity with my scratchy backpack. But I also laughed the whole time, because it was really fun and ridiculous to feel like foreign cattle. So it goes.

The bus ride was about 10 hrs, and at 3:30 am we were dropped off on a pier in the middle of nowhere and given our bags, and the bus left. We didn't know where we were, there was no town or anything, just a pier and some old wooden picnic tables outside. Eventually, a small store / information booth opened up around 4am, and we deduced that we would be getting on a boat at 7:00am. with nothing to do and no where to sleep, we bought a bunch of beers and chatted and tried to pass the time. I got to know Tomas's friends Karyn and Josh a bit better, and we picked up a stray german guy who was travelling alone. Karyn is about to go back to Canada to do med school interviews, Josh lives and studies economics in Beijing, and ze German, Artus, just graduated med school in Germany and is starting his internship in Malaysia in a week or so. We all got a bit drunk and a bit delirious and laughed and tried to decide what day is was.
Soon enough, the sun rose, and we were on the ocean.




The boat came, and we started on the next leg of our journey - a 4 hr boat ride. It was cool watching the sun rise over the ocean.




Once the sun actually fully rose, the boat was impossibly hot. I fell asleep for awhile, but once I woke up I started feeling really sick and ran away from my pals to discretely puke off the side of the boat like a green cartoon character. I, apparently, am a land lover. Yeesh. How embarrassing! Luckily nothing really matters when you're as tired as I was.
Eventually we landed on Ko Phan Ngan, found a taxi, found a hostel, and collapsed on the beach around 1pm after our 19hr voyage. Artus joined the other strays for a nap in the shade.




These little pups are my favourites.




After a few hours of laying around, we got hungry and strolled over to the local night market for some cheap and delicious thai food.




We came back to the hostel and had a beach fire and a few celebratory beers. We made it! Time for some island living. Then we all fell into a deep, peaceful sleep. Finally, finally, finally.



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Location:Bangkok to Ko Phan Ngan