Exploration

Originally, I had planned to stay in Hua Hin for a couple of more days but yesterday when I was out taking a walk through the city streets I passed the bus station.

I don’t know where it emerged from but instantly as I saw that station I just got the intense sensation of wanting to go south the same evening.

15 minutes later I had a ticket in my hand. I went back to my room, packed up my few belongings, checked out and I was on the street again. I boarded the bus at night having no real idea about my destination that I had just picked out randomly.

9 hours later, together with a pair of exceptionally numb legs, I was in some sort of bus terminal out in the middle of nowhere. People were directing people onto buses. There were minivans circling, leaving and then returning to the terminal like workers in a beehive. People were also boarding another kind of transporting vehicle of very peculiar appearance, reminiscent of an oversized tuk tuk on steroids.

A girl approached me and asked where I’d like to go. “The beach” I said. “Which beach?” she responded. (Of course, there was more than one beach…) She shows me a map and I pointed out one that looked good. She says the place is crowded and it’s practically impossible to get accommodation at the moment but fortunately she had just got a cancellation which she now offered me. She refers to it as the last room at the resort. I turned it down and decided to go discover that for myself.

Sure, when I get there it is pretty crowded and most of the places I check are fully booked but determined I keep on searching and eventually I do find myself some roof over my head for the night, for a better price and much closer to the beach. I don’t know if it is my inability to accept what people are telling me as the only truth or my endless need for exploration on my own terms that makes me tick. I just know that the satisfaction I’m getting out of being able to fix something by my own hands is insanely great and something worth striving for.

Tonight I’ll be spending my time in Ao Nang. Tomorrow I’m on a ferry to Ko Lanta.