the quiet beauty of pai was left behind in the dust from the tires of a mini-van. luck would have it that marco and mauro were on the same bus as us, all the way to bangkok! party.
after a nerve-wracking drive where the van passed the 120 kph mark on small windy village and mountain roads, we were all immediately shocked to be back in "civilisation". pai had been a soothing tonic, a blanket for the cold, a peaceful retreat... and now... cars, tuk tuks and buses battled for place on over crowded roads and the stare of neon. we ate a hurried meal and set off to get the next bus to BKK.
the photo in the store was slightly misleading. a monster of a bus waited for us, coloured in insane streaks of yellow, orange and blue, and packed full of tourists! shit. we sat in our incredibly uncomfortable seats and prayed the next 12 hours would pass quickly.
from the constant changes in volume of the tv from tinnitus causing to funeral level, the constant shifting to find a better position, the airconditioning starting and stopping, the journey took its time. marco and i found a place under the baggage area where we could stretch out (unless the AC dripped on us, which it did) and share cigarettes with the drivers assistant with the side window open.... that was about as good as it got... until finally, after SEVEN hours... the driver stopped the bus.
beers, noodles and crisps were inhaled in a short time, cigarettes attended to, and a bottle of coke secured to mix later with the sangsom whisky... then back on the bus, only a few minutes of happiness mixing the whisky and downing the lot, then sitting back, trying to relax...watching the stars and pylons move across each other, seeing market stalls still open at 4 am.... and then a few minutes of blessed sleep until the couple of israelis next to us started arguing so loudly that almost the whole bus woke up... and they didnt stop... they kept going... and going.......god.. THEN when finally their fury abated and mine turned into sleep another girl from the back of the bus spent thirty minutes asking the drivers to turn the air conditioning UP... she threated to kill them, break the windows, all in a vain attempt to get a non-english speaker to understand threats and instructions in hebrew/english... a difficult task for anyone.
finally we pulled into bangkok after 14 hours and lots of moaning. we found a bar, had a big breakfast and went to sui ngam du phlis for some rest... and the day began
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