My parents
lived in Malaysia while I was in college, and after graduation, I stayed with
them for about six months. A couple of
American and Australian friends, Cathy and Ray, invited me to join them on a backpacking
trip they were planning in Thailand. I
only had a few weeks left in Malaysia, so I decided to do an abbreviated
version of the trip to get my feet wet and see if I enjoyed the backpacking way
of travel. I found that I very much
enjoyed backpacking, but I also had a lot to learn!
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| Cathy and Ray |
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Don’t fall asleep on the ferry
After a couple of weeks of the 3 of
us traveling together, the day came when we were to go our separate ways. I had
been having a blast – Ray and Cathy had taken care of me, and although I was
sad to get on the ferry alone, I was ready to take on this challenge. My plan was to find some other foreigners on
the ferry from Phi Phi to Phuket (a 2-hour ride), figure out the good places to
stay and how to get to the city center, and go from there – hopefully meeting
up with my new friends for a beer after I got settled. Unfortunately, after all of the fun Cathy,
Ray, and I had been having, I promptly fell asleep on the ferry. When I awoke a couple of hours later, we were
at port. On which side of Phuket I had
NO idea; I had not met a single foreigner on the ferry; I had no map; I had no
place to stay; I did not see a bus station; and at this point, it should go
without saying, but I didn’t speak a word of Thai.
Lesson
Learned: Networking is critical
to survival in this world, and in order to maximize your network, you actually
need to MEET people. Sleeping on the ferry
will leave you high and dry.
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| "I guess I'm in Phuket..." |
·
Know when $14
is a bargain
So I jumped in the back of a small
pickup truck with some other foreigners heading to Phuket town. They weren’t sure where they were staying, so
that didn’t help me a lot. After arriving
at the little bus station in town, I jumped on a bus that had a route along the
coast in an area with small hotels and huts near the beach. I was feeling pretty good about myself, and
things were looking up. So I got off
after I saw a couple of hotels pop up, and I went to inquire about a room. Keep in mind that I had been paying less than
USD$5/night on the small islands of Koh Phi Phi and Koh Lanta, so when I heard
the initial price of $14 for a room for the night, I wasn’t worried – they were
just used to bargaining with more tourists.
But there was no bargaining. That
was a firm price, and he laughed at me when I told him I was going to find
something a little less spendy. There
was a reason he laughed. The per night
prices just kept getting more and more expensive as I found my way up the road,
and I finally ended up back at that same small place, feeling a bit ashamed as
I asked if there was still a room for the night…
Lesson
Learned: A certain amount of
research can aid in trusting others. If
I had any inkling that the prices were higher on Phuket Island than the other
islands, I would have trusted the gentleman instead of assuming he was trying
to rip me off. We all know what happens
when we ASS-U-ME too much.
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| One of our $5/night huts |
·
Watch out for
drivers named “Lucky”
After I got my bearings, purchased
a map of Phuket, and laid out a plan (see, I’m already learning lessons!), I
went about finding a driver to take me to my most desired location – the Gibbon Rehabilitation Project. I met a man who called himself Lucky, in honor
of Lucky Strikes, and I genuinely liked and trusted him after we talked for a
while, so we worked out details for a trip the next day. As we set off, with me in the back of the tuk
tuk truck, he made a stop and picked up another man who got in front. I remembered being told to never travel with
more than one local for safety reasons, but I was too timid to speak up – I liked
Lucky and had a good feeling about him, so I didn’t want to hurt his feelings. Luckily (pun intended), there were no problems,
and the trip was great – probably one of the most impressive projects I’ve ever
seen in Thailand. I did, however,
mention this to him after the trip was over, and he apologized if I had felt
nervous, but he reaffirmed it is smart to be cautious in situations like that,
and that I should have spoken up.
Lesson
Learned: When unsure about something,
speak up. Make sure you are communicating
from a point of genuine information-seeking as opposed to judgement, but it is
important to honor your trepidation to avoid miscommunication or unnecessary
risk.
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| Lucky and me after the Gibbon Rehabilitation Center |
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