It may have taken a minibus, a sky-train, an airplane, a taxi, a bus, and a Tuk Tuk, but we made it to Khon Kaen and we had a blast. After our incredible weekend on Ko Samed island we hopped on the ferry back to mainland Thailand. It was at this point that we began the adventure of understanding how to get from point A to point B in Thailand. Now this may seem like a very easy task, but in Thailand everything MIGHT happen when it is supposed to happen and I am not an expert in Thai language yet. If you look up the bus times and see that the bus leaves every hour from Ban Phe to Bangkok then it MIGHT really leave every hour, but it MIGHT not leave until it is full. A common saying in Thailand is Mai Pen Rai, no worries, and this is a necessary attitude to have in Thailand. Mai Pen Rai is a great way to live and I love how laid back it is in Thailand, but when you are catching planes it is important to be on time.
When we got to Ban Phe we had to wait about 30 minutes to get the minibus to Bangkok and it was a 3.5 hour ride. Minibuses are basically just vans that you hire to take you from town to town and they are the quickest cheap transportation option. The minibus ride was not long, but wow was it quite the ride. You know when you are sitting in traffic and you see the emergency lane and think, "it would be so nice if I could just drive in that lane and pass all these cars"? Well that is exactly what the minibus driver did the entire way to Bangkok and most of these buses don't have seat belts. Yee Haw! Ha Ha Luckily we made it to Bangkok in one piece and were able to get a cheap hostel to stay for the night. Was the nicest hostel, no, but we made it work for one night.
The next morning we woke up, had breakfast, and caught the sky-train to the airport. Again this may seem like such an easy task, but when the signs are all in Thai it can be very tricky to buy your sky-train ticket, find the correct train line, switch trains, and ultimately get to your destination. I have learned that traveling in Thailand is a learning experience and I hope by the end of my time here that I will be an expert in all things related to Thai travel. =)
The sky-train was really awesome and we were able to see a lot of the city on the ride to the airport. After our ride on the sky-train we checked in for our flight and boarded the very bright colored plane. Here are some pictures from our journey.
Hello minibus line.... Hello Bangkok hostel....
Above: A few sky-train pictures
Above: My favorite sign in Thailand that we found on the sky-train. Can anyone understand who has priority seating?
People with babies, pregnant women, elderly individuals, handicapped individuals, and saving the best for last... Monks. =)
I got us to the airport with help from this guy!
Aboard our bright and colorful plane to Khon Kaen. I was excited for the snacks and happy the flight was only 50 minutes.
Khon Kaen Airport with security that takes a total of 30 seconds to go through. I could sure get used to that! =)
Getting to Phu Wiang:
After all that traveling to get to Khon Kaen, one would think we were finally to our friends, but after getting to Khon Kaen we still had to get to the little city of Phu Wiang. Phu Wiang is where our friends Dustin and Julia live. From Khon Kaen airport we had to take a taxi to the bus station, a bus to Phu Wiang bus station, a tuk tuk to Julia and Dustin's school, and then we rode on the pegs and fenders of their bikes back to their house.
When we got up on the bus we had no idea if we were actually going to the right town because no one spoke any English. I did my best to speak Thai/ show the driver my google maps picture of Phu Wiang. The bus driver even rearranged passengers when we got on the bus just so we could sit together. Luckily we were on the right bus and we made to Phu Wiang on the first try. Here are some pictures from the second half of our journey to Phu Wiang.
Our "hopefully this is the bus to Phu Wiang" faces!
Bus to Phu Wiang
When there is no A/C on the bus and the windows are down... Mom, want to frame this and add it to the hallway?
The Tuk Tuk ride at the end of a long day of traveling
For Dinner:
Thai pizza and Smoothies with a cool holder
(You don't know what kind until it comes out)
The first night we spent most of the evening just catching up with Julia and Dustin and the next day we went to school with them to meet their classes. Julia and Dustin teach primary school and their students are the cutest little things I have ever seen. I really hope that I can teach primary school next semester if I stay in Thailand. Here are some pictures of their students.
Left: Dustin's favorite student, Tang
Right: Julia's favorite student, Chopper
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| Julia's class |
Below is the temple behind Julia and Dustin's school
Bright Lights, Big City!
After our day at school with Julia and Dustin we all got back on the bus to Khon Kaen to go explore the big city for the weekend. Once we arrived in Khon Kaen we stumbled upon a sound system car show. Here is a video, but beware it was REALLY loud!
Because we are all living on a budget now, we didn't want to spend more than $10 each on the hotel room, so we decided to slum it a bit at the Glacier hotel.
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| Ha Ha not quite slumming it!
After the awesome car show we decided to go out and try the infamous Asian D'lite drink. It tasted a lot like a pineapple juice to me, but it was tasty.
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Ya, we aren't the most normal bunch!
Dustin, being a champ and loving every minute with us three gals! =)
The audience cheering on the boy band!
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| Me: "Ummmmm guys, I think we are in a strip club!" Before I was able to inform the whole group of this discovery Julia had already ordered us all a beer. When the beers and the bill came the server told us that is was 1,200 baht each. For those of you who don't know the conversion that is a $40 beer! We were all freaking out, unable to return the beers, and realizing we were spending more on one beer than our whole weekend in Khon Kaen, so we decided to talk to the manager. The manager was kind enough to give us the beers for 1,200 baht total. I like to think that was the original price and that the language barrier is to blame for the confusion, but if not those are some expensive beers. We didn't hang out for long, but on our way out I found myself an exciting bunch of guys, Cranium MC biker gang. Here is a picture of all of us with the Khon Kaen biker gang. |
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| After this photo was taken I made a deal with the guy with the watch on (probably the president) that I would teach the gang English in exchange for my own biker vest. If only I lived in Khon Kaen....... Ha Ha
Phu Wiang National Park
The following day we returned to Phu Wiang and Jill, Lauren and I went to the Phu Wiang national park where dinosaur bones had been discovered. The national park was beautiful and I wished that I had proper hiking gear, but we were still able to see a lot of the beautiful sites. Here are some photos froom our adventure to Phu Wiang National Park.
Lauren, Jill, and I at the first lookout point
 
Above: National Park Gate Above: First site we made it to!
Below: Ewww! Below: Jill, Lauren, and I at site 1
  
The long long long staircase to.......
These 4 little dinosaur bones! Ha Ha  
By far the prettiest view ever. It was very foggy but you could see trees and mountains for miles and miles. We were on top of the world, or at least Phu Wiang. =)
Last Day in Khon Kean:
On Saturday I received a text message that our plane back to Bangkok was cancelled, but then late Monday night I received an email that they had found another plane to put us on Tuesday afternoon. I was very sad to leave the endless laughter we had with Julia and Dustin in Phu Wiang, but I was also excited to get back to Klaeng and start school. The trip home was another adventure, but we made it home safely. Luckily P' Tit picked us up from the minibus drop off because we didn't know how to tell the bus driver exactly where we needed to go. We live on the outskirts of Klaeng and the bus dropped us off on the other side of Klaeng.
Next up: Klaeng and my first day of TEACHING eeeek =), but I will leave you with this very very realistic photo of our group right before Jill and I left Phu Wiang. Yup, that is me that the dinosaur caught! Ha Ha
XoXo
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