January 9, 2007 In Transit – Koh Phi-Phi, Thailand

January 9, 2007
In Transit – Koh Phi-Phi, Thailand

We arrived in Bangkok at 4:00 (2 hours early!). I believe it is the first time in recorded history that a bus in Thailand has arrived ahead of schedule. After securing our luggage, Ilse and I shared a cab to the airport.

Since it is almost impossible to sleep at the Bangkok airport, we made our way to a café and had an early breakfast. After eating we headed upstairs and parted ways. I sat down and waited for Lisa Johnson and Ilse caught a flight to Phuket.

At 6:40 Lisa arrived. Together we wandered the airport and I looked for a new book to read. At Lisa’s recommendation I purchased The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. We continued meandering around the airport and eventually decided to try the wireless internet. Curiously, it only worked when we sat at a very specific spot in the airport…

At 8:50 we checked our baggage and went through security. We then checked out some more shots. I was excited to see that the Nike Store still had lots of apparel with Oregon and Eugene on it.

Eventually we boarded our plane. At 11:15 (almost 30 minutes late) we left Bangkok and began our journey to Phuket. While I immediately fell asleep, Lisa had trouble getting any sleep because of a crying baby.

Once we landed I grabbed our baggage while Lisa got us tickets to Phi-Phi island. In a lucky turn of events we found a french couple also making the trip and the four of us split a cab to the docks.

By the time we arrived at the dock Lisa and I were starving. We grabbed a few sandwiches and the jumped on the boat. Once the boat left the dock Lisa fell asleep. I read for the entire hour and 45 minute journey.

When we got off the boat in Phi-Phi we were accosted by what seemed like hundreds of people trying to sell us expensive rooms and boat rides to other beaches. Luckily, Lisa’s friends Matt and Paul (both from England) had already gotten two rooms. We waited near the dock for Matt to come get us and show us to the guesthouse.

I ended up sharing a room with Paul so that Lisa and her sort of boyfriend could stay together. After throwing down my bags I jumped in the shower and tried to relax after almost 24 hours of traveling.

A few minutes after 17:00 Matt, Lisa, and I headed down to a local bar (with a boxing ring) to watch Paul do some sparing with an old (but very muscular) German fellow. It was fun to watch and relax with a beer.

I found it quite funny that as soon as he got out of the ring Paul lit a cigarette and expressed his need for a beer. So, after he grabbed a quick shower the four of us headed down to a local restaurant for some dinner (I had a delicious pizza).

When we were done eating we made our way to one of the many bars on the island. We sat at a table with a few drinks and grabbed a Connect-4 set. The other three took turns trying to beat me. Paul was the only one that managed to get a win…

Eventually we ended up back at the bar with a boxing ring. We had a few drinks and watched drunken people fight one another. The best fight of the night was between two girls. At first they were quite timid but after a few minutes they were slugging it out. It was hilarious. I think that more bars in the USA should have boxing rings…

I returned to the room at 23:45 and put a DVD into my computer (the others stayed out). However, I was so tired that I fell asleep during the opening credits.