January 15, 2007 Railay – Bangkok, Thailand

January 15, 2007
Railay – Bangkok, Thailand

A little before 6:00 this morning Lisa, Matt, Paul, and Karly (swiss girl) came to my room to say goodbye. It was difficult to get up because we all stayed out at the bar until late last night. I don’t think anyone was feeling very well when we said our goodbyes. It was sad to see them go. I had a great time experiencing southern Thailand with them and I enjoyed meeting everyone.

After they left, I did not go back to sleep. I did not manage to pack my things up last night (as I planned) and had to organize my bag. It took quite a while. When I was done I took a cold shower (the only kind available) and felt much better.

I then headed out in search of some food (7:30ish). Sadly, nothing was open when I began my search. I settled for a bottle of water and returned to my room and read for a few minutes. At 8:20 I grabbed my things and made my way to the travel agent where I had purchased my ticket.

After a few minutes of waiting someone escorted me to a small boat to ferry me over to Krabitown. I found it quite amusing that I had to wade out into the water with my baggage and load it into a (almost moving) boat.

Fifteen minutes later we reached the Krabitown docks and I was handed off to a cab driver. He then drove me to the airport (about 30 minutes). I arrived at the airport almost three hours before my flight. The airline desk was not even open.

I killed time by grabbing a bite to eat and reading some more of Down Under. Eventually I got tired of sitting and felt the need to wander the small airport. I was excited when I found a big party in the main lobby. Apparently, Nok airlines was having their first flight ever to Krabi and were marking the occasion with a large ceremony. I helped myself to some free food, listened to excited people speak in thai, and was confused by the presence of hula dancers (one of whom was a lady boy…).

Once I had my fill of free soda and snacks I decided that it was about time to board my flight. I went through security and to my gate. I was surprised to find that I was one of four people at the gate (and our flight was leaving in 20 minutes). We were all quite confused and grew very worried. Eventually an airline employee told us the flight had been delayed and escorted us to the passenger lounge.

Half an hour later the flight was further delayed. My 12:25 flight was now not going to leave until 14:30 (an hour after I was supposed to arrive). I passed the time by kicking around some balloons from the party and attempting to read my book.

The only thing that occurred once I got onto the plane is that I fell asleep. I did not wake up until we were back in Bangkok. After an extremely long wait at the baggage claim I headed to line for metered cabs. While waiting I met a lad from England going the same way as me. We split the cab.

As it turns out, he was looking for a place to stay and I guided him to my home away from home, the Baan Sabai Guesthouse. After a quick check of the internet my new mate and I sat down for some dinner while I waited for B and Spizz. My boys showed up just as I was finishing dinner and a few minutes after the Englishmen had left.

We then shared some stories of our time apart and headed up to our rooms. Coincidently, B and I are sharing the same room that Jackie and I stayed in more than a month ago (room 420).

The first thing I did upon getting into the room was chuck down my baggage and gather up my dirty cloths (which is all of my cloths). I also grabbed my collection of patches and my backpacking pack. I was excited when B showed me the way to a local establishment that specializes in laundry and patch sowing!

Next B and I grabbed a massage while Spizz borrowed my computer and sorted through his photos from our time apart. While my massage was phenomenal, B reports that he felt violated by his gay masseuse.

We returned to the room at about 21:00 and decided to take it easy for the remainder of the evening. I did some blogging while the other boys played on the internet.