Chiang Mai Trip Part II (traveling- read Part I FIRST!)

Bangkok slum where Step Ahead works
Chiang Mai bike shop; I couldn't resist. It's just funny.
John at the Step Ahead Bangkok office


I have a few things to say about traveling around Thailand:

• Buses are really cheap in Thailand.


• Bus drivers drive like maniacs. The biggest vehicle rules the road, and buses pretty much take the cake. They speed up behind every car and then honk their horn to clear the path. Ridiculous.


• I will NEVER take a bus again unless I find a more effective motion sickness medicine.


• Flying is the fastest and probably safest way to travel here. Most expensive, but not too bad.


• Motorcycles are probably the most dangerous way to travel, but definitely the most fun! (And I don't get sick on motorcycles.)

I took a 2nd class night bus to Bangkok, a TWELVE-HOUR-RIDE with seats that weren't particularly comfortable or spacious. Pun and I took a 2nd class bus b/c there were no seats available on any other bus; everything was fully booked b/c it was a holiday weekend; in fact, that is why there were no flights available, either. The one thing I can say about it is that it was cheap! Only about $15 (I can't remember exactly how much) to travel a great distance. When we arrived in Bangkok at 5.30 a.m., I was so dizzy, nauseous and out of it from having not slept at all that I could not even think about getting on another bus to Chiang Mai (a 10-hour-ride from Bangkok). So Pun very graciously invited me to her place, where I slept from 6-10 in the morning, showered, ate a little bit, and got to go to J & J Market, a really cool outdoor market with tons of things to buy. Then I took another night bus to Chiang Mai, but a VIP bus, which was much better than the 2nd class bus. It had comfy seats that lean back really far, a movie, a toilet, and food served on board. On the way back to Bangkok from Chiang Mai, I took a first class day bus, which wasn't so great. The only differences between it and a 2nd class bus were a toilet and a little bit of food service. But the seats weren't very roomy or anything. And I was more motion sick on that bus than I've ever been in my life. I took a Dramamine before I left which, as usual, made me totally out of it. Whenever I take Dramamine, I might as well have drunk 5 or 6 beers, because it has the same effect on me. It works for several hours to keep me from feeling nauseous, but it makes me really drowsy and loopy. But then the problem is that I don't sleep anyway! So after the first 5 hours, I took another Dramamine, and when I was about an hour outside of Bangkok, my head was spinning and I was so nauseous that I seriously wanted to die. I hadn't eaten anything all day except an orange and a small bread roll early in the morning. I think a combination of several factors were at work: I hadn't slept enough, I hadn't eaten because I didn't want to get sick, but then maybe the Dramamine on an empty stomach was a bad idea. And then I was motion sick anyway.

After I got off the bus, I waited in a long line to catch a taxi and watched a taxi driver come racing between the lines of people, screeching to a halt and narrowly miss hitting a little kid! I was on and off my cell phone the whole time with John Quinley, who was explaining to me how to tell the driver in Thai the directions to their house. It took another 45 minutes through Bangkok traffic to reach the Quinley residence, but at least I was sitting in the front seat, so I didn't feel as bad as I did on the bus. I was so happy to see John and Kim's smiling faces when I finally got there. I was only able to eat a few bites of dinner, went to bed at about 8.30, and my head literally did not stop spinning until I'd slept a full night and woke up the next morning. Yuck. The next afternoon, I caught a flight on Air Asia from Bangkok to Phuket, which was pretty good! I wasn't sick at all on the plane, and it was only an hour and ten minute flight. I don't know if I've ever been so happy to arrive at a place and see somebody as I was when I got off the plane in Phuket and saw Paul and Amnuey. I am so grateful to be back at Step Ahead again. It feels like home more than it did when I left.