After a totally appalling night in the sweatbox of a room, we were glad to get the hell out of there at 7 a.m. and walk up to the Hello Bar for a Coke. We hung out there for a couple of hours then went and booked two seats on the VIP bus for the evening.
Back of the hotel we picked up our stuff and left it downstairs then made our way back through the escalating water fights to a cafe where we settled in for the day. I made several forays out onto the streets during the day, returning soaked every time. I went and retrieved our packs later in the afternoon and bought two tapes: OMD Greatest Hits and Cruel Crazy Beautiful World by Johnny Clegg and Savuka.
At 6 p.m. we went down to wait for the bus. But no so-called “air-conditioned VIP bus” ever arrived. Instead, we were bundled onto a bus with most of the other backpackers who had only paid 250 to 300 Baht¹. The 19 of us who’d purchased VIP tickets objected strenuously, but the dishonest little bitch of a woman was intractable on the issue of what constituted “VIP treatment” so for our extra 150 baht we each got a small bottle of drink, a chicken leg and some rice!
The bus rolled southward all night and the reclining seats allowed us to get a bit of sleep.
¹The Thai currency is called the Baht, pronounced “bart.”
CurseOfTheTraveller 