My stint in Bangkok is now over and it’s time to move on to more azure pastures. I have decided to go to Koh Tao to meet up with a couple good friends from Asheville NC who have made it their home for the past 3 months. Koh Tao, which in English means Turtle Island, is a small island in the southern gulf of Thailand, closest to the larger tourist destination of Koh Samui. It’s a divers paradise with many coral reefs and dive shops. Since teleportation and tube technology are still a few years out, this means I have to make the journey in more traditional methods. I visited a local Bangkok travel agency to have it all arranged, what follows is my account of this not-so-fantastic voyage:

To book the exodus out of Bangkok I took the recommendation of my tuk-tuk driver (questionable move on my part), he set me up with the “renowned” (insert sarc-mark here) establishment named, “Amazing Grand Thai Travel Limited Partnership” whose slogan on their business card reads, “we care your life”. I knew the travel included something like 9 hours by train or bus and then a 3 hour boat ride to get to this small island paradise in the souther gulf of Thailand. The agency set the details and charged me 1600 bht (about 50 usd) for the total package. I though I was sittin pretty.
Follwing my travel agents instructions, I arrived at the designated bus stop promptly at 6pm. This bus stop was in a fairly seedy part of Bankok amidst some dilapidated housing and that can only be described as an authentically local slum. The street was littered with old car parts, stray dogs and here and there a pick up truck full of garbage. As 6pm passed and the sun began to set I put my faith in the relaxed nature of the Thai people and their tendency for tardiness. My mind couldn’t help but wander to the negative: was this the end of the line? Would I be abducted for the sex trade, have my organs sold on the black market or be forced into being a drug mule? Which option would I prefer?….think happy thoughts, think happy thoughts, think….and then, at around 7:15pm a passenger van rolled to a stop in font of my bench. The driver got out and railed off some indecipherable Thai, the only part I understood was “Koh Tao”. I was loaded into the van to find myself crammed like a sardine with 2 Russian couples and a pair of Brits. The Russians didn’t speak English and the Brits seemed way more confused that I was, so I just settled in and prepared for the 9 hour ride.
Not so fast. Within 15 minutes of being picked up we were being instructed to unload at yet another seedy street corner in downtown Bangkok. Like good little tourists we waited on the curb until a large double decker tour bus came careening around the corner and squealed to a stop in front of us. Loading up again into the top level of this bus I was immediately greeted by the unmistakeable smell of body odor and musty upholstery. I was seated next to another young traveler who introduced himself as Shaun, a South African from Cape Town. Shaun seemed to be a nice guy, but also one of the main sources of the BO smell. I found this to be rather common among the backpacker types that made up most of the passengers in this bus.
As the bus lurched onward we were privy to several bootlegged movies as we journeyed into the night. I chatted Shaun up for quite a while and found that we had quite a bit in common, especially our tastes in music and love for the outdoors. Shaun had just finished a tour of India and imparted some valuable wisdom of that area that I may get the opportunity to use if I survive this midnight cruise. After our gums got tired of flapping I laid back and decided to try for some shut-eye.
I was abruptly awoken by the sound of screeching breaks and the shouts of the driver yelling something about Koh Tao. Me and several others, including Shaun, were herded off the bus and directed to sit on yet another curb in the middle of nowhere Thailand at 3 in the morning.
After waiting a good 30 minutes, dwelling once again on if my harvested organs would perhaps be given to local Thais in need or shipped off to the Baltics, an army-style passenger truck came to a stop in front of my curbside crew. We loaded up once again, this time packed even more tightly into this open air vehicle, and went speeding off toward what I supposed would be the boat docks. It took the better part of an hour until we arrived at the Chumphon boat dock. It was pitch black but I could smell the salty air and didn’t have to be told we were near the ocean. Already at the dock station were another dozen or so travelers just as exhausted as I was. Somehow word got to me that the ferry boat would not be launching until 7am, so we had a good 3 hours or so to waste. There were an assortment of seating options, everything from cardboard on stacked car tires to ripped up old seats removed from minivans. Other travelers were sprawled about, some sleeping some playing games, some watching a hazy tv in the only thing that functioned as a building. I passed the hours by reading a little fiction while seated on a wooden bench. Slowly the sun began to rise and my surroundings became visible. The calm ocean, a dozen long-tail fishing boats, and several huge island rock formations rising out of the water just like you see in the travel books. Suddenly it felt like this journey was turning around as the night turned into day.
Once the sun was up, the call came out to board the ferry and the other travelers and I got in line and took our seats below deck. Since the sun was now out, so was the irrepressible heat, luckily the boat lurched forward and a breeze came through the window. Afternoon while I decided to go above deck to check out the surroundings ( and I was feeling a bit seasick in the open ocean). Climbing to the top of the stairs I take in the panoramic view of blue and in the distance I see the shadowy shape of an island, Koh Tao.