Traveling frenzy
Taking the trip from Krabi town to Phuket using the cheapest modes of transport was an entire day of adventure, swapping vehicles, and moving around. I got on the back of a truck that took me from Krabi town to the bus terminal and bought a bus ticket to Phuket for about $4-$5. After a couple of hours, the bus pulled into the Phuket bus terminal. This one happened to be pretty far away from Phuket town, and even further from Patong beach, where I had booked my hostel. As soon as I walked off the bus and tried to go and ask for directions, I was spotted by a group of taxi-men.
They locked their eyes on me and asked me where I was going. I said Patong beach, and they said I could take a taxi for 550 baht, or about $20 USD. It was probably a fair price considering how far away the beach was, but I asked them if there was any other way I could get there. They said there wasn’t. This seemed strange. Patong was such a popular place to go, that I thought there would be infrastructure in place to take me there. But no, apparently they said this was the only way to arrive there. If they had been honest and upfront about things, I would have considered taking the taxi, but the fact that they straight up lied and attacked any foreigner they saw in the bus terminal didn’t go well with me.
For the next 30 minutes, I asked about a dozen people around the bus terminal, how I could get to Patong beach. The information desk at the bus terminal, the moto-taxi’s standing outside the bus terminal, and even some locals arriving (but they didn’ speak English). From anyone that I asked, the answer was unanimous- the only way to get to Patong beach was by taxi. I took out my phone and started doing some research. It seemed there was a local bus that could take me to phuket town, where I could interchange to another bus that would take me to Patong beach. This seemed more like it. Now I started asking everyone at the bus terminal about this local bus, but they told me it didn’t exist. Hmm, strange. After about the 4th time approaching the information desk lady, she finally told me bus number 12. I asked her how I could get there, and she screamed at me to get away in Thai. I finally found the bus terminal where hte local bus picked up, and this cute little pink bus pulled into the terminal.
Why do I do this to myself?
Now I understand I could have taken a taxi. I could’ve saved money and a ton of time, and helped a taxi-men. And at this point, you’re probably thinking I’m crazy and wondering why in the world I would do this to myself. But I have strong reasons for preferring public/cheap transport:
- These (but not all) taxi men only see you for money. They don’t have a real interest in helping you. It bothers me how they attack all foreigners they see. They don’t think about what the best thing for you is, they think about what the best thing for them is (which is to get your money).
- In this case, I paid nearly 10x less by taking public transport. Sure, the taxi didn’t seem too expensive, but these savings can really add up over time.
- Taking public transport is better for the environment. Think about a taxi driving solely me, a far way. Versus a van filled with a dozen people, or a bus with 30+ people! This keeps the roads less congested and has a much lower carbon footprint.
- This is much more fun! It’s a very easy way to force yourself to get creative in your travels. I search for a little bit of discomfort in my journeys. Sitting down in an air-conditioned vessel for a couple hours seems a bit boring. You could always end up with a good story by doing things this way. (although I’m not saying this story is good)
- You can meet local people! Most local people will always prefer taking the cheaper, slower means of transportation. It’s really fun trying to talk to them and interacting. Once a lady at a train station gifted me an old coconut! I would much rather share a vehicle with other people and start a conversation, rather than ride alone in a taxi.
- Often these transport methods are slower which means you can take more time to appreciate the places you are passing by.
Phuket town -> Patong
I got on the local bus here at the bus terminal and rode down to phuket town. Along the way, a very friendly local gave me directions on how to get on another bus to patong beach, and he even walked me to the bus terminal and pointed me to the van to take to Phuket town. I paid the Van driver between $2-$3 for my seat to get to Patong Beach. That wasn’t the end of the experience though.
Phuket is an island. Phuket town is on the east side of the island, and Patong beach is on the west coast of the island. The van had to cross through the horizontal length of the island. It didn’t seem too far. On the bus, I met another traveler and had a really good conversation with her about where we had traveled, and about the impacts of technology on the world. Halfway through the ride, we caught a terrible traffic jam. The traffic was pretty much completely stopped on the road, the cars weren’t moving. The van driver told us we might be better off just getting off here and walking the 5km to Patong Beach, so he stopped the van in the middle of the street and dropped us off.
We didn’t realize at the time there was a massive hill right after he dropped us off. We had to walk up this steep, twisty road with no shoulder filled with cars, before walking back downhill into Patong beach. It was difficult, but since the traffic was moving slow, wasn’t too dangerous. We also saw others jump off the bus and start walking down to Patong.
Getting to Patong beach wasn’t the end. I booked a hostel in paradise beach, another 5 km away from Patong, following a road along the coast, and with very steep paths as well. But I had a plan. At this point, it was about 8:30pm. As I walked down the street, I kept my eyes peeled for scooter rental places. Closed, no scooters available here, only the expensive scooters available here, only a manual scooter available here. Finally, I found a place run by some Russians, with some simple scooters available. They gave me a very strict set of rules. If you bring the scooter back even a minute late, you pay a big fine. I paid them about $15 to rent the scooter for 2 days, and left a deposit with them. I really prefer the smaller scooters as well. They are less powerful so you won’t be able to go as fast and put yourself in a dangerous situation. They are also a lot lighter and therefore much more maneuverable and easy to go through and around things.
After renting this scooter, I rode some of the steepest roads I’ve ever seen to my hostel in paradise beach. Especially the road leading right up to the paradise beach was scary steep, downhill. I squeezed on the brakes as hard as I could and leaned back on the scooter, luckily I was light enough that it wasn’t too scary. Paradise Beach Hostel, $6 / night. The hostel was recommended to me by another traveler I met in Krabi, she said it had a private beach. After arriving, I could finally relax on a bed and sleep.
The next day I awoke to the sun and walked outside into one of the most beautiful beaches I’ve ever seen in my life.
