don't get me wrong, i totally enjoyed every minute, its not often that i get to ride in such outrageous vehicles. we were smashed into the bus then all the luggage was loaded onto the back all the way to the top effectively blocking our only means of escape if one was needed.
we rode for about 20 minutes to the ferry station. keep in mind that its 6am and still dark out. there are already dozens of people sleeping all over the ground waiting for the boat when our truck load shows up, and we were only about half the people from the train. i had a feeling that our tickets might not be totally legit so i wandered down to the dock to check and surprisingly, i got our stickers for boarding. which was great because moments later they started lining people up and we could jump the whole line and get first pick of seats. we chose the door that said 'air condition' and sat down while the giant crowd trickled on. it was hard to tell what the boat looked like but our section of about 30 seats wasn't too bad, just a bit run down.
sol was loving the morning. he slept on a choo-choo, then got on a big truck, and now was on a boat. he kept saying 'bye bye caboose'. not sure a cuter boy was ever made.
the giant mob is finally on the boat and we didn't leave, just hanging out on the dock. because we're waiting for the next truck load of people from the train station, apparently. this is what happens when all the boats are sold out for the holidays, we got tickets with the only company that lonely planet doesn't like and they smashed as many people on board as there was deck space. we were thankful to get seats in the only air conditioned area.
about 5 minutes after we pull away from the dock a thai man came into the room with a sign that said 'air conditioning 30 baht per person', and started collecting money. aaah, that's a good scam. people were grumbling because the sun had come up and it was already hot in the room. the guy behind me argued, but finally paid but demanded that he turn on the air if he's going to give the money. apparently the air had been on the whole time. so we paid extra to sit in a hot room. great scam, actually, since by now there wasn't a single other spot on the boat to sit.
a few minutes later it was pretty obvious that it was going to be a furnace in our cabin so we made him open the 2 small windows and although there was a bit of breeze it quickly filled with diesel fumes. i think that's what lulled me into my 20 minute nap. when i woke up shanti had taken sol onto the deck in the front of the boat because the smell was making him sick. i stayed inside to watch our bags and pablo followed them, he wasn't feeling so great either.
it was about 15 minutes after that that pablo stuck his head through the window and asked for his bag. and what he described was the funniest thing i'd heard in days. i didn't see it but i'll try to recreate from eyewitness reports.
shanti had gone to the front of the boat to get sol fresh air but none of the people would let her have a seat where she could lean back against the pilot room so she was standing at the very front, trying to nurse him, hoping that would make him feel better. the wind was pretty strong and there were about 10 other people behind her. almost the moment sol is done nursing he vomited, which shanti described as taking a glass of milk and throwing it into the wind. it instantly coated the people that were sitting behind her. as they sat there in shock with milk running down their faces sol barfed again, the wind caught it and they got another spray. and then once more, just to make sure everyone was covered.
i would have given anything to have seen that.
shanti's milk was dripping down people's foreheads, they couldn't see out of their sunglasses, all over their clothes. now they'll think twice before they refuse a nursing mother a seat, i hope.
the fumes were a bit too much for me at this point so i started making my way outside. i hadn't been outside the room since the sun came up and the boat looked exactly as i'd picture a refugee boat would look, falling apart and not an inch of space that didn't contain a person. this was truly the picture of a tragic ferry accident that's in the news now and again, overloaded boat capsizes in channel killing all 800 aboard.
i opened the door and banged a woman, 3 people had to move so she could move so i could get out, then i had to tip toe my way between people's legs and arms, apologizing the whole way because i couldn't help stepping on them. 2 guys had to hang over the edge of the boat to let me past to get to the front, where i found shanti, pablo and sol, and some other unhappy people that smelled like curdled milk.
and its only 8am, what more fun can today bring?
 |
| we did finally make it |
No comments:
Post a Comment