Thailand and the 19-Hour Journey

I spend a day doing some tourist sites in Bangkok. At one point my tuk-tuk driver takes me around the king's palace. There is a mote surrounding the palace that he claims has crocodiles in it. I smile and nod assuming he's misinformed. That's when I see a crocodile making his way up the bank of the mote toward the street!!! Bangkok is okay, it's a city, but I'm ready to see the Thailand that everybody talks about. Blue beaches and warm water. I board the night bus out of Bangkok in the evening. I've been told it will take me fifteen hours to reach Phuket (pronounced Poo-ket, you foul-minded twit), where my old best friend currently lives and teaches English. It is all the way in the south so I know they're not kidding. The bus is full of young backpackers that are headed toward the Full Moon Party on one of the islands. I have two seats to myself and the bus is pitch dark, perfect for sleeping. At one of only about two rest-stops I meet two guys from the UK. Grant is from Scotland and Rich is from England. They are both in the army. What's with me and Army guys? When we board the bus again, Grant and I sit next to each other and chat for about three hours in the dark. At 3:00am Grant and Rich have to get off the bus because we have reached their stop. We exchange information and make a tentative plan to party together at the Full Moon Party in five days time.

At five o'clock in the morning I'm told that those going to Phuket need to get off the bus. I'm

put into a new Toyota with the music and air conditioning blasting. I am hardly awake, but once the driver races around town trying to get me and a couple of other girls to our busses, I am wide awake. I make the next bus and spend four hours winding through beautiful Thai scenery until I get to Phuket station. Andrea, my childhood best friend, pulls up on her moped and I hop on. I'm so tired and so glad to see her that I laugh so hard my eyes tear. I hop on the back of her scooter and we head to her apartment. That night we go to the main tourist road and have a crazy night out with her roommate and a ton of

their friends that teach English at the same school. When we are leaving the bar, who do I see but Philip, the Jamaican guy I partied with in Malaysia! I have a freak-out and run up to him. We're shocked, but kind of realize that we're both on the travel circuit and sometimes this happens. I still can't believe it though. Andrea, Andrea's roommate, and I, decide to call it a night at about three o'clock in the morning. I've had a really long day. We sleep the next day away and go out briefly the next night. On Monday morning she takes me to her school where I meet all of the children she teaches. Thailand is known for its Thai brides and you see it everywhere. On the party roads I see nothing but unacceptable dirty looking older men with young Thai girls hanging on them. At Andrea's school I see the next step, Thai/Euro children. It's quite an interesting thing watching all of the young Thai moms and old white dads drop their kids off at this expensive school. I watch Andrea teach them English through song and dance. They're so cute!!!

I have a great visit with Andrea. We go to dinner on the beaches and she shows me around the island on the back of her scooter.