The Government Night Bus

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So we checked out of our amazing Bangkok hotel and took cabs to Jenny's flat. We were planning on leaving extra luggae at her place as we head off to the islands. I took a different cab then Nolan and Kimani, and got a special treat. My cabbie got into a wreck on the way, but we still beat them there! He hit the back of another taxi, who got out of his car and yelled at my driver with a mean look on his face. My cabbie yelled back. I would have peed my pants if I was somewhere like Chicago, but this being Bangkok, I really didn't get nervous and of course, Buddha prevailed. The angry cabbie got back in his car and drove away. Although he did give us dirty looks at the next light.

We headed downtown to see if anything was going on for Chinese New Year, but were disappointed when we found out all major festivities had been cancelled due to the King's sister's death. There were alot of angry tourists in red! We wandered around and found a temple to go to. It was amazing that with all of these statues that temples are open all night. We took of our shoes and lit some incense in hopes of good times in our travels. It was surreal finding a place so quiet in the middle of hectic downtown.

Jenny then took us to a rooftop bar where we shared a pint of Sang Sum (Thai whiskey) and got ready to go to the Ekkamai bus Station. We got in a cab and our driver was from Laos. He comes to Bangkok and drives a cab for one month and then goes back to his family. Things must be REALLY cheap in Laos. Sounds like it's beautiful. Jenny went there for a week I think; her pictures were great! When we got to the bus station, the driver called the police over and said Look Tiger Woods, same same. The police looked at Nolan, shook their heads in agreement and said Same Same. Everywhere we went people compared Nolan to Tiger Woods. It was hilarious.

The Overnight Government bus was not very fun. The Air-con was broken and kept going in and out. Nolan was very cramped and the Bus Attendent didn't like us because we switched seats with Kimani. When she scolded us Nolan said Too Tall, either she understood or didn't want to argue because she just walked away. She continued to give us dirty looks though. When we got to our stop it was just an open air market with a bathroom in the back. We waited to take a songtheau (which means 2 rows) and was basically a pickup truck with two rows of seats and a covered top. This was the main mode of transportation outside of Bangkok. We got in with four Japanese tourists and headed to the Pier. All of a sudden, one of the Japanese tourists started to yell. I didn't know what was going on, but figured out from his reaction that there was some kind of giant bug in the truck with us. Nolan bent down, picked up the lizard and tossed it out behind him. The Japanese tourist was very grateful. Next, we hit a bump and Kimani's hat flew off. He said oh well, but the scared Japanese tourist had caught it. Nolan said hey, you catch, I throw. Everyone got a big kick out of that. I guess Nolan is funny in any language.

We hung out at the pier for an hour or so while the sun started to come up. Nolan and Kimani thought there was a storm coming, but it turned out to just be the Mountains of Koh Chang. They thought it looked like King Kong's Island. The Ferry ride was pretty uneventful, which was good after that bus ride!

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Photos

Amazing Bridge
Here is one of the bridges you can take to Jenny's flat. I'm not usually into bridges, but this one was pretty not.

The Temple in China Town
Here is part of the temple we found wandering around. I can't believe they don't have to lock this up.

Offerings for the New Year
Here was the other part of the temple.

The Fat Buddha
Fat Buddha represents good times so Nolan and I lit incense for the remainder of our trip.

Do you think King Kong is out there?
They were worried about the storm in the distance. I'm glad it was only mountains.

Koh Chang in the Distance
Looks less threatening in the day light.