Saturday 18th October
At precisely 17:18 hours the 17:05 train started pulling out of Hua Lamphong station en route for Surat Thani due to arrive at 04:04 the following morning. We chugged along very slowly and it didn't take too long to understood why. Flanking the tracks were makeshift homes crafted out of metal and sheeting, some home as little as 20 centimetres from the train, many had mopeds parked outside. Numerous people were milling around this ghetto city within a city which continued along for what for what seemed miles. Never before have I seen anything like this, the people themselves were going about their business seemingly oblivious to the great monster lurching along bedside them.
Within an hour the blackness of the night had filled the air and the train carriage was being turned into a dormitory of upper and lower bunks. My bunk, an upper one, was very narrow and so I squeezed myself into it for the night.
At 04:48 hours the train pulled into Surat Thani, 44 minutes late whereupon I was greeted by a man who took me to a cafe selling bus tickets. Upon enquiring, I discovered the bus was not due until 07:30, suddenly I was pleased that the train had arrived late. Purchasing my bus ticket and settling down to a light breakfast of toast and jam with orange juice and coffee, I proceeded to kill time by getting out my laptop and writing my last blog – Bangkok. Eventually 07:30 came and sure enough so did a bus, which took me over the course of the next four hours to Phuket Town. On route there was some beautiful scenery, lush green mountains disappearing into the clouds as the bus sped along its way.
No sooner had I stepped off the bus in Phuket Town when I was accosted by a taxi driver, I asked the price to Patong and was quoted a fixed price of 450 baht, with some bartering I got a small reduction of 50 baht for the 11 kilometre ride to my journey's end. It was midday on Sunday 19th October when I arrived at my destination, the Connect Guest House.
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