Monday, January 16, 2012

Arrived at the bus station in Surat Thani feeling greasy and exhausted. Found my pack and turned around to approach the ticket office, then, feeling somewhat dazed, tottered into the waiting area. Found a seat and set my packs down. Saw the Vietnamese English guy board another bus soon afterward, and was sorry I hadn’t said goodbye to him. Wish I could remember his name. Another bus took me to the ferry pier on the coast, and I dozed on the way. When we arrived, I got off, arranged a chair under a walkway overhang, and dozed a few more minutes. Woke up and walked with others down the dock to our boat and boarded the ferry. The ride was about 1.5 hours. Arrived at the Na Thon pier. The directions about a local bus were all wrong, so I took a local songthaew taxi truck with some other ferry passengers to Chaweng beach. The hostel’s walking directions turned out to be useless, so after walking around in the blistering heat with all my gear for fifteen minutes, I gave up and walked into the nearest hotel, figuring they spoke some English and could sort it out. The wonderful front desk staff called my hostel and got directions for me. Checked into my hostel. It was mid-afternoon and I needed to eat soon, so I ate at the McDonalds a few minutes’ walk back down the road, not wanting to take time to explore. Showered afterward. Felt much better. Decided to go for a quick dip in the ocean at the nearby beautiful Chaweng beach. Laid on the sand for an hour or so and soaked up the last hour or so of sunshine. Returned to the hostel and showered. Emma, another guest, took me to a nearby Thai restaurant and then showed me the bars and clubs along the beach. I bought a Chang beer at a 7-11 on the way back.