yesterday i decided to take off from bangkok and head to kho tao. i took a taxi to the train station and tried to get a ticket that night for kho tao. unfortunately, they did not have any more sleeper cars, so i would have to endure the whole 9 hour journey sitting up and awake all night. damn. the train station by the way, was totally insane. people rushing everywhere, everyone’s yelling, attendants are pushing their huge luggage carts around and slamming them up and down so that people will get out of the way. after the train is over an hour late, i try on a whim to ask if for some reason there have been any opening in the sleeper carts. there are! shweet!
9 hours later we arrive in the town of champong. it’s pitch black outside (6am) and i stumble out of the train half awake. i need to buy a ferry ticket to kho tao and all of a sudden i realize i have no $$. i ask the guy where there is an atm and he says “follow me”. i follow him around the corner, and he hops on a motorcycle and looks at me expectantly. huh, excuse me? moments later i’m flying thru the streets of champong on the back of this motorcycle. as far as i can tell, the motorcycles here have even less rules than the taxis. they go through red lights, drive on the wrong side of the road at will, and drive more recklessly than i can imagine. in other words, it’s hella fun.
the ferry ride to kho tao was pretty mellow. when we got there, i realized just how beautiful the island is. palm trees and lush jungle everywhere, and the island has that amazing tropical island smell to it. this is definitely a huge change from the cluttered streets of bangkok. when you get to the dock, there are a ton of pick up trucks waiting and everyone wants you in their pickup to take you to their bungalow or their diving class. after piling about 8 or 9 people into the back of a pickup, the truck will take off.
it’s pretty trippy how here it seems that no one has any regard for safety. so much of the stuff that goes on here would never fly in the states. sometimes i wonder if the Us goes a bit overborad on safety. maybe most of their problems are cause everyone is used to being pampered and kept safe so no one actually uses common sense? over here (and in russia too) where everyone drives w/ no rules… somehow there are hardly any accidents, probably cause people are always alert?
so i rented this bungalow by the beach. it’s super tiny and looks like it came straight out of a movie. i also signed up for scuba diving lessons starting today. should be hella fun. i’ve never driven a scooter or anything.. so i’m kinda pondering whether to try it here. i dont think you need a special license or anything.
-v
Americans are stupid… likely the most accident prone people on earth due to the serious lack of common sense, responsibility for their own actions and the like. Everywhere else in their world it seems like it’s “you’re on your own, if you fuck up, tough shit, it’s your own stupid fault and merely helping to cleanse the gene pool.” Whereas, here it’s, “hey, it’s your fault I fucked up, now gimme all your money because I am suffering from “Post traumatic stress syndrome.” The most used and abused excuse ever. Unless, you’re a Vet, you’re not likely suffering from it. Because of that, “why should I worry and be careful when I can easily blame someone else?” I think that’s key, we’re not responsible for anything these days. where elsewhere, you have no one to blame but yourself.
Then again, I guess Americans have been so coddled for so long, that if you take that “Danger” sign off the bike trail by the cliff, everyone would instinctively ride off of it because of course we are all too fucking stupid to figure out the equation of “big cliff + 1,000 foot drop + riding over it = very bad” without someone helping to carry the 1. heh
Not that I hate all Americans, but it does seem we have the world majority of stupid. Ah well.
Love all the journal updates! I’m surprised you find so much time to update so frequently. So far, it’s been totally enjoyable. I look forward to reading more. Take care and watch out for the “freaky thai hooker disease” that Joey got! 😉
Yeah , watch out for the “thai hooker diease.”
=p
-j
dude, i totally agree. it’s like the child that gets totally sheltered by its mommy and then grows up and cant do its own laundry or cross the street by itself. pathetic. maybe if we took off some of the safety guards and peole actually had to think for themselves a bit, everything would actualy be fine.
glad you’re enjoying the journal. it’s actually been really easy to update it daily. when you have all day free from work or any obligations at all, you end up having tons of time on your hands. plus, there’s something really comforting about writing a journal… maybe i feel like i’m talking to friends back home that i dont get to see? err.. actually i guess, if i respond to comments, then i really am talking to people from back home. heh.
-v
You funny. 🙂
Vlad, you may very well be one of the last honest pizza!
-joey