Phuket to Chumphon

This was a day of transit. It began with a trip from the Palm Garden Resort to the bus station in Phuket. This is a little abnormal as most people are traveling out in a plane. We got to the main "new" bus terminal without a problem. The wait was just an hour, but we had to pay for an extra seat for our luggage. Dive gear takes up a bit of space. Upon entering the minibus we thought that we would have enough room. Not exactly. It was really cramped with locals and the bus stopped a little more that we thought. The first bus took us to Suratthani. From there we got on another taxi-like vehicle called a tuk-tuk to the next minibus location. This was a hectic mess, but it looked like the locals knew the ordeal, not us. We waited an hour for the next vehicle to take us to Chumphon. Yes, it got us there, but WAY out to some other bus station. We wandered a bit for a while and not so smoothly looked around for information. After struggling, we had a man yell out from a desk at us. He called us over to his window and asked in English where we wanted to go. We made it simple and asked if he would take us to the train station. From there it was a .5k walk to the hostel. No, there was not a taxi, it was him. He toted us in his El Camino like truck. All of us in his 4 person cab for 250 Baht. No problem. When he delivered us to the train station, I thought he earned a US $2 bill. I keep a pack of those for really nice helpful people, and he was. It blew his mind! Yeah, but we were now able to but tickets to Bangkok. That was nice. Supposedly, we have first class sleeper cars on the 24th. If we get to Bangkok in comfort, I will be surprised.

From the train station it was a close walk to the Salsa Hostel. In the middle of borderline chaos of mopeds and people, the Salsa Hostel was oasis in a desert. The was a modern hostel with all the amenities one would wish for international travel. They had a full beverage spread at local prices, bunks with bed side lights and outlets, a clean shower, AC, and free breakfast. For $6 US a night, spectacular! Oh, and they had free, fast wi-fi. We didn't have much time, but dinner was to be had and a shower was in the plan.

Now dinner. Good God! We went for a stroll along the night market looking for some tasty morsels. The vendors were out in full force, and right in front of our place is where it all began. All we needed was some food, how difficult was that? I don't speak the language and have no idea what people eat here. We got a few meat skewers for a few Baht, then walked the market. Meat was good, but we needed some substance. Rice? Anyone? Nowhere to be found. Noodles? Anyone? Same thing. So, we decide on more meat stick. This time Michael and I opted for the dark red glistening stick of mammal. Well, hopefully. Let me tell you, the first half of the meat stick was great, until I realized it was no other meat that I have had before. I have been hunting and have eaten wild game, but this was nothing of the sort. Chewy. Rich. Interesting. And, it all stayed in my teeth until the morning. Our consensus is rat or other rodent, but your guess is as good as ours.

We slept amazingly, and the AC was a gift from the gods. Thank you gods.