Adventure

Bear and I are on an adventure to find our friends, they're somewhere in Patong Beach on Phuket, and we are on our way to look for them.

Our search began very early this morning with a 5:30 wake-up, we packed and showered to be ready for our 6:30 shuttle bus to take us to the docks. We were resigned to the fact that we would miss our morning meal when we booked our trip, so we were happy when the shuttle was late as it gave us time to share with the buffet. The shuttle soon arrived though, and whisked us away to the dock on the western side of the island.

By 8 o'clock we were on the ferry, which was a more modern jet-cat kind of thing than we were expecting, it was a little disappointing as we had been hoping for something much more crazy and rickety. Our passage across the water was smooth and we alighted to be shuffled hastily into another shuttle. An hour later we were deposited at the bus station that time forgot and completely bewildered.

It had amenities, sort of.

There was a toilet with no paper and a bucket / ladle combination to flush with, there were six items on the menu but they had run out of two and there was a forty-five minute wait. There was, however, a very nice ham, cheese and lettuce toasted sandwich with tangy mayonnaise, in which they had managed to toast the bread, warm the ham, and melt the cheese but not wilt the lettuce, so it wasn't all bad.

After the wait and the sandwich we boarded the bus. It was 11 o'clock and we were moving again.

The bus has a musty odour and damp seats due to the dual cause of leaking air conditioning and decades of passenger sweat. We now have 2 hours left of a ride scheduled to be twice as long. The city streets have been left behind and we are making our way through what appears to be half jungle half farmland with lush green groves of palm and another variety of tree I don't recognise. It stands tall with slender trunks and white bark similar to a birch. The only indication of any kind of cultivation is the straight rows in which the trees are planted.

Just now, it has started to rain, soft fat droplets are drawing channels on the windows of the bus and intensifying the almost neon green of the vegetation outside, as the television inside plays what one can only assume is Thai-Pop. We've been labelled with stickers to advise those around us where we are going. I only hope, in 2 hours, when it is time, we are able to locate the stop that is ours and the next shuttle.