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Long Wet Ride Home

Posted by Stuart at 09:50 AM on February 25, 2003

The trip back to Bangkok threatened to destroy all the mellow, relaxing, feel-good effects of the weekend in Samui. First, the boat ride from the island back to Surat Thani was long and hot. The small boat was packed with over 300 people (with room for about 200) and had no shade except for an unventilated seating area in the bottom of the boat.

But as I was sweating on the deck and appling more sunscreen and trying to distract myself by looking for dolphins in the water (I saw one on the way over) I appeased myself by knowing that an air-con sleeper train was waiting to take me to Bangkok. When I arrived at the train, however, the AC was "broken" and I was placed in a sweltering fan car. To add insult to injury, the nearest fan didn't move, so I couldn't really feel any moving air. Needless to say, since I had paid extra money for an AC car, I just about lost it.

So there I was, sweating and trying very hard to have the laid-back take-it-as-it-comes Thai attitude, but it was next to impossible. But now, after a relatively good, albeit sweaty, sleep and a short taxi ride home to a hot shower, I can honestly say mai pen rai ("no problem").