Oh, how I get to the places I go.

Traveling in Thailand is hard. Well, traveling is hard when you live 6 hours from Bangkok and you are traveling on a budget.

Our trip started late on a Saturday when we walked to the bus station. We decided to walk with our backpacks on to save a few pennies on a tuk tuk. We were also a little antsy, so we set off at around 10 pm. Our bus didn't leave until 11:30, and we had plenty of time. We sat in the bus station and were just stared at. The combination of white skin, books and real luggage, we were quite a sight. The strangest thing to see is that Thai people don't read. Ever. While sitting in their boring stall at the night market, on a plane, train, or in a bus, they never ever read. But there will most likely be a television at a ridiculous volume within earshot, so they are content. Koreana and I tried to read our books, but the piercing eyes burning into us and the screaming actors and actresses on the Thai soap opera made it a challenge.

We finally boarded the bus and we were on our way. The bus company that we take to and from Bangkok is actually quite nice. They feed us lots of food, give us at least 3 beverages, and have massaging seats. The six hour trip is usually pleasant. It is one part of the trip that I look forward too. Well, I look forward to it when I am dressed appropriately. And I forgot my socks on the way down, so it was painful. The air conditioning was on so high that I literally could not feel my toes. My teeth were chattering. Even with the blanket provided, my hoodie and my jeans, I was frozen. I have never been more relieved to step into the heat of Bangkok in my life.

And we were onto the next part of our journey. We had to get to the airport. But not the major airport, the domestic airport, Don Mueng. Yeah, we don't know how to pronounce it either. And that was definitely a challenge with the taxi driver. We both tried saying the name of the airport multiple different times, and finally Koreana succeeded. When the taxi driver finally said, "ahhhh, Don Mueng" it sounded exactly the way we had said it. Oh, the Thai language. We were at the airport by 6 am, so it was time for a nap. We put on our raincoats, socks with sandals and we sprawled out on the floor of the airport. We couldn't check in until 9:30, so we had some time to kill.

When we finally checked in everything went smoothly. We flew to Phuket on the hour long flight and ended up in paradise. The airport is literally on the Andaman Sea, and the runway alone was beautiful! We spent one night in Phuket, ate famous Muslim Pancakes, lounged on the beach and relaxed before heading east.

We set off early on Monday morning to get a bus to the east coast, Saratthani. The woman we bought our ticket from was ready to put us on a 9:30 am bus. Well the bus pulled up, and it was full. So she made a few more phone calls, and told us we would be on the 10:00 bus. And the bus pulled up, and it was full. So, she made a few more phone calls, and I began to sweat. I knew that the bus would take at least 4 hours, and that we would need to buy a ferry ticket once we arrived. We absolutely could not miss the last ferry. Finally the woman came back and told us we were guaranteed on the mini bus at 10:30. Okay, my heart rate became a little more normal.

When the mini bus arrived, we had seats. We had the two seats left in the very last row in the far left corner. There were four seats in total in the last row. There was a couple with a 2 year old in the other two seats. This was going to be interesting. The 2 year old climbed and kicked and whined. I thought things were bad. But things were about to get much worse. The woman sitting next to me started throwing up about 14 minutes into the trip. I have the worst gag reflex and she just started vomiting right there! I looked at Koreana, but luckily for her, she was sound asleep. I searched my purse for my ipod, I needed the noise immediately. I found it without too much of a struggle and I blasted it. The problem was, songs end. There is always a brief moment of silence. Enough silence for me to hear that the daughter was now throwing up too! Oh. My. Goodness.

I fell asleep after a long struggle and woke to everyone getting out of the bus. No, we weren't in Saratthani yet. We were just at a rest stop. But I was psyched. I couldn't get out of the bus fast enough. Koreana was behind me and was shocked to hear about my crazy throw up experience. Moments later, the happy little family walked by with their clear plastic bags filled with throw up. We couldn't help but laugh.

When we loaded up the bus again I was sure to put my headphones in immediately. The family had bought fruit during our stop, and I knew it couldn't be a good idea. This time around it took about 20 minutes before the throwing up started, and Koreana was asleep yet again. The little girl even threw up on her shirt and shoes, so they had a little wardrobe change right next to me. I was beside myself. I put on my Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me podcast, and tried to focus on Who's Carl This Time?

When we finally arrived in Saratthani we were quickly ushered from our minibus to a little travel agent down the street. I knew it couldn't be good, but we bought the tickets regardless. We needed to get onto the ferry. Sure enough, we were ripped off, but we had tickets. And by this point, it was all that mattered.

Our ferry ride was relatively uneventful, thank goodness. We made it to Koh Samui in about 2 hours and were picked up by the resort. It was a pleasant ending to a very long and crazy journey.