Somewhat unexciting information of life between south and north...

After Brittany left for America, I spent the next few days cleaning and attempting to fix the broken washing machine with no success. I had been wanting to go up north to Mae Sai to visit Brandon and Aum, Brittany’s brother and sister-in-law. This seemed like a good time, and it just so happened that my friend Katie was also staying in Mae Sai. I called Brandon, and he set me up with a taxi driver who would take me to the bus station and go in and buy the ticket with me. We left around 3pm, got to the station around 4, bought a ticket to Chaing Rai on a bus that left at 9:40pm. Ideally, I wanted to get a VIP bus straight to Mae Sai. As it turned out, that bus was full, and the only available seat was on a second-class bus with no bathroom headed for Chaing Rai. I didn’t really know what was happening until the ticket was bought, but the taxi driver called Brandon and he told me what was going on. I figured that since the ticket was already in my hand, I would take whatever came. 

As I had 5 hours to wait, the kind taxi driver took me to a local mall, where I wandered around until it was time to go back to the bus station. It was a welcome relief from the chaos of the bus station. Apparently during crisis situations, such as the flooding that was at that time already encroaching on the outer limits of Bangkok, refugees collect at the bus station. After a frustrating time trying to get a tuk-tuk in the rain to get me back to the bus station, I finally made it there around 7:30. I weaseled my way through the crowds of people sitting on every available surface, and found a spot on the floor near my gate. Soon enough a middle-aged Thai man planted himself next to me and took it upon himself to entertain me and translate announcements for me. He was very kind, but a little clingy. I was actually glad to get on my second-class, bathroom-less bus. The bus was actually pretty nice. The seats were very clean, they reclined, and they gave us blankets. Unfortunately, there were two children sitting about 5 rows ahead of me who cried and puked intermittently for the entire duration of the 14 hour trip. 

Once I got to Chaing Rai, I purchased another bus ticket to Mae Sai. I could have gone via song tau and city bus, but at that point I was tired and unwilling to deal with city transportation. I figured buying a seat on a tour bus would speed up the trip. In reality, the normally 45 minute trip took 2 hours, and the bus didn’t leave for three hours after I arrived in Chaing Rai. I finally got to Mae Sai around 5pm and promptly got on a song tau to take me into town, forgetting to get my bag from the hold of the bus. I accidentally rode past the hostel where Katie was waiting for me, and ended up walking back on the side of the road. I met Katie, and she convinced her friend who worked behind the counter to take her to the bus station and get my bag.

It was quite the trip! They were able to get my bag without too much trouble. Katie and I went into town that night and ate at a little restaurant someone recommended to her earlier that day. The food was fabulous!! Atmosphere, not so great, but with Katie it was fun. Really, that was the anthem of the week that was to follow. Katie made everything fun!!