Madoka and I began our travels to the northern part of Thailand. She doesn't know exactly which refugee camp we're going to visit or who is there, she just knows the connections and that it has been arranged.
So today I did some last minute things in Bangkok, walked over to Silom but found everything closed because it is a holiday, and was ready to check out of the YMCA by 2 o'clock. Madoka was supposed to come at about 3 o'clock, but as usual she came early and I was watching TV when she called from the lobby.
My luggage was already in Brenda's room and I took one last look at room 1428, left some cookies for housekeeping and I left. I checked out, paid my bills, gave the front desk people chocolate, and I headed out with Madoka. I had a backpack, my camera, and some water. Madoka had a backpack, her video camera, and her camera. I had maybe 3 or 4 changes of clothes.
We walked over to Silom where she wanted to take a peek into a bookstore, and from there we caught a bus to go to the Bangkok bus station to catch the bus to Mae Hong Song. It was a bit of a way out from Silom and it started to drizzle on the way, the rainy season having started.
We got to the bus station only to find out that there was a new bus station and the bus for Mae Hong Song was at the new station. The new bus station would have been within walking distance, but a downpour began, making it miserable for travelers. We found out which buses would go to the new bus station, and we waited a while for the rain to subside because there were so many people that if we tried to catch any of the buses we were trying to catch, we would have gotten soaked anyway.
When it didn't stop, we just had to suck up and get wet. We ran to one of the buses when it came, and we got wet as expected. It being rush-hour, the short trip took a while. Still, we made it in plenty of time, especially considering that we ended up sitting on the bus for over an hour waiting for it to leave.
The bus trip to Mae Hong Song was already slated to be a 16 hour marathon ride. Things could only get worse. The bus wasn't much better than some of the ordinary buses in Bangkok; it certainly was not one of the luxury coaches that run between Bangkok and Chiang Mai. For starters, the bus left over an hour late. Then as it turned out, bookings to Mae Hong Song are a rather lax affair, and there were so many people booked on the bus that metal folding chairs were set up in the aisles with no regard to safety or comfort. It was incredible, I'd never seen the likes of it before.
The ride was long but modestly comfortable, especially since we were not stuck in the aisle in a folding chair. There was one stop for food at some station, and one stop when the bus broke down for about an hour. We reached Mae Sariang at the time we were supposed to reach Mae Hong Song, and that was when the bus gave out for good and we had to wait for a bus from Mae Hong Song to take us the rest of the way.
We finally arrived at Mae Hong Song four hours late. Not as bad as it could have been. Things have been a little better between Madoka and me, but not by much. Getting out of Bangkok has helped, but we're probably stressed from our travels. If that's the case, I don't know how or when things will settle down to the point that we're really comfortable.
