The day began an hour ago. The last of the packing was done and there was just a bit of time to have a morning instant coffee. The driver was a bit late and the next hour was spent picking up the last passenger. The bus is full of people couples mostly. One of them have a lot of suitcases which took up a lot of the available space for luggage.

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We made a pit stop and everyone filed out in relief. It was an early start for everyone and almost everyone scrounged for some food. It wasn’t clear how long we had but standing there felt great. Before long it was time to go back in contorting our bodies to fit into the cramped quarters. It is like human Tetris fitting everyone and everything back in. There is a bit of restlessness as the bus is quiet now except for the murmur of the driver’s voice as he talks on the phone. 

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We have started driving through rain. The mood inside the van has changed. It seems that everyone has become conscious of this fact and made their little comments. Who knows how long this rain is going to last or if it’ll be this heavy throughout. It can’t rain all the time…

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We arrive at a holding bay where others are waiting for the same ferry to take us to Samui. We unload and are tempted by the lady shouting out the menu. I called her over and placed my order. We have about an hour to wait before the next phase of the journey begins.

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On the bus they had a Muai Thai fight on. It looked like some kind of championship fight for some kind of title. It went to a decision and it was clear who won from just watching it. The locals working for the company must have wanted to see the outcome. The TV is off now. The grainy picture got worse as we went over bumps.

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This is the longest bus journey ever. The bus is slow like a fly stuck in molasses. Everyone’s asleep or in some kind of similar state. I’ve been in and out of consciousness myself the sun and the temperature on the bus is conducive to this. I checked the offline map and we still have at least five kilometers to go. There’s a couple a few seats up that has their seats way back and the woman keeps snuggling and kissing her man. He looks like he just wants to sleep. She had a giant suitcase with her when I saw her earlier before boarding the bus. I suspect that they are on a honeymoon but this is just a guess. OMG this is taking sooooo looong. She is at it again. It’s nice to be in such a romantic place on this old crickety bus about to get on a ferry to a tropical island. I think we are almost there. The ferry is close now. 

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They rushed us off the bus and made us walk to the ferry. The walkway was covered protecting a bit from the sun’s warm rays. Some of the railings were rusted away with some replaced by bamboo stuffed into the holes left behind by the steel poles. I passed a woman strolling along eating ice cream as she rolled her bag down the concrete sidewalk. Our ferry was the last one. It’s an older looking ship not as sleek as the catamaran in the other dock being loaded by passengers eager to get to their destination. I carried my bag and wondered what I will send back to make it lighter. Everything doesn’t fit as well as it once did. It’s not because I bought a lot it’s just that I need space to make packing less of a chore. Once on the ferry our baggage was nearly stacked with everyone else’s together in one place. The ferry is fairly packed with people. We alternated getting Drinks and as I stood outside to take some photos I chatted with a lady who happened to be from South Africa. We both agreed that the last bus ride was way too long. It’s probably going to take forty-five minutes to make it to the island and maybe another forty-five to make it to the hotel. All in all a lot longer than we thought it was going to take. 

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On another bus on our way to the hotel. This is going to be the last bus today. Even if we had to I don’t think I could take another one. The rain started falling again. This time it looks like it will be prolonged. Hopefully it’ll stop when we get to our hotel. 

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At a bar sitting around with a friend from Canada and his friends. It’s nice. We were supposed to meet at 2030. When we got here at 2000 we ordered some drinks and decided on what we were going to have for dinner. The service at the Islander was good and the food that we got was delicious as well. We haven’t really eaten that much today. After finishing dinner I contacted my friend through wifi and lo and behold he was there but I just didn’t see him as my back was turned to him. We talked about being out here on the island and caught up on life in general. It started to rain and we quickly moved under some shelter deeper in the bar and restaurant. There was a lot of sports on the televisions and we talked about what to do the next day. We decided to stay an extra day here in Samui. The journey to get here was so long and the atmosphere here so nice that it warrants that.