Bangkok to Ban Phe

Journal Entry - Thursday, October 18th, 2007:

What a day! We made it to Pattaya but then so much farther. After stepping off the bus onto the streets of Pattaya we refused the usual taxi driver requests. Sometimes I just humor them and kind of go with it then end up leaving. Cruel I know. We were told to just start walking down the main street and look for a bus that would take us to Rayong, where we wanted to get to . All of a sudden a bus came out of no where with no english writing on it at all, only Thai. It stopped beside us and a little Thai man popped out.
"Where you go?" he asked.
"Rayong" we answered.
He nodded and shuffled us into the bus. He asked us for 20B from each of us, we complied and then say down. About five minutes later he came over, asked again where we were going and then forced us out of the bus along with two other young Phillipino men. AFter we were out one of the two others said:
"He's a bad man."
We were the victims of a scam. Luckily only 20B but it definatly opened my eyes a little bit. The Rayong bus came five minutes later (clearly marked in English). We got on along with the other tow guys and were in Rayong two hours later.
We found a taxi to Ban Phe for 20B each and then a ferry to Ko Samet for 50B each. We had come from BKK fo Ko Samet in one day and for a total of 266B. Not bad if I do say.
We are now going to bed in a small concrete room with one bed, a toilet, sink and cold shower that we paid 150B each for.

Journal Entry Saturday October 20th, 2007:

I'll start with what we did yesterday. Motorcycles, 200B each, we bough 2 for the day. They are so much fun but kinda dangerous at the same time. We basically just rode around Ko Samet the whole day, it was quite the journey. We left Na Dan to Sai Kaew, wandered west till we reached the VERY expensive beach of Ao Prao. Dead end. Came back and made our way south, slowly, having no idea where we were going or what was next! The lonely planet was in my pack back at the bungalo we were staying at in Na Dan.
This was one of the best days so far, the bikes were worth every penny! We eventually stopped at Saeng Thian to take a walk down the beach and I'm glad we did! This beach is PERFECT!! Quiet, with nice locals, not many tourists. We found a place to stay for 450B, such a nice little bungalo, right on the beach. The bed is big enough for two.
With a room secured we headed back to Na Dan to retrieve our packs then returned. Upon arrival we ran into another traveller from Canada. Brenden from Calgary. We say together and enjoyed a few beers on the beach. Brenden has been to Ko Samet a couple of times and has gotten to know a few of the locals and introduced them to us. Naam, a funny little Thai lady, okay English, very loud and talkative. Mein, Naam's little sister, very cute, no English.
After getting to know some of this beaches locals, us and Brenden went back to his place in Nuan to chill and then to a restaurant called Puay for smoothies and to watch its fire dancers perform. so cool.
We enjoyed a "bucket" of some local drink called Sang Som. Very tasty.
Today, I got up around 10 and went for breakfast down the beack at Naam's Aunties place. It has since become a regular place for us to eat and socialize with locals!
I'm excited but nervous to travel alone.
We also just secured a place to stay for the next two nights, 1000B in total. Not bad, not great. Some locals from Chaing Mai just moved in next door and I am them had a good chat, Ben was gone somewhere else. One very flirty eyed girl keeps looking at me...
Time for guitar now, bye!