28th of December, 2023.
Hitchhiking in Thailand: Phanat Nikhom to Kanchanaburi
This time I am travelling with a friend. I met Miles in Bir, Himachal Pradesh, India, during my first volunteer work in the country and one of the most iconic ones in my travels. Miles is from London, and I love his British accent and sense of humour. Despite our mutual shock during our volunteer work in the Yoga Ashram, we managed to have a good time together, with lots of laughter and joy!
I am meeting Miles in Bangkok; he is coming by bus from Koh Chang and I am hitchhiking. After a lot of consideration, we have decided that the best way to get to Kanchanaburi (K.) is by van. Why not hitchhiking? In order to get out of Bangkok and its highways, until a good spot for hitchhiking, we would have to take a bus for one hour, which costs 70 THB. And from there it would be another hour and a half driving to K. Taking a van all the way there from Bangkok will cost 130 THB and it takes about 3 hours. So, logic wins!
Miles is supposed to arrive near 6 o’clock. I rather arrive much earlier just to make sure we don’t miss the last van. They depart from Muchit Bus Terminal – bulding D (just across the street from Bangkok Bus Terminal), from 5.30 a.m. to 8.00 p.m.
I leave Phanat Nikhom around 9 a.m. I get a lift right outside my building all the way to the intersection to Bangkok. Edi, her husband and her son are going to have lunch in Chonburi. I have a very interesting conversation with Edi. She speaks a good English and can also speak Korean. Edi used to work with tourism but when her son was born, she quit to look after him. Typical. The problem is she misses working there and would love to come back, but she doesn’t see it happening. “I wish I had travelled more” – she tells me. How many other people, (and women) just like Edi, I have met in my travels. If people only would think deeper about what is it that they really want, and take in consideration all the possibilities they have, they would be way happier.
It doesn’t take much time until Tængkwā and Nikon stop for me. They are a young couple (perhaps just friends?) going to spend the day in Bangkok. They are both very sweet, and even though they cannot speak English, we manage to introduce ourselves and they offer to drop me off at Muchit Terminal. Yay!
I arrive near 12.00 o’clock. I have plenty of time to go and check where to buy the tickets and then I just keep sleeping outside Bangkok Bus Terminal, right in front of it, by the grass across the street. It is too cold inside and there is not a place where I can lie down. In the grass, I open my yoga mattress and lie over my backpack. I manage to take some long naps until Miles finally arrives a bit after 18.00h.
We get not a van but a mini bus right at the time we arrive to Muchit.
It’s great to see Miles again! We have so much to catch up and I have always enjoyed to chat with him. There are not too many people with whom I enjoy to have deep conversations and share points of view. Among all the topics we discuss a lot, I think the most recurrent ones are films and spirituality. Films are one of my biggest passions, and I love to talk about them, mostly with people who have a deeper understanding of it, and a very good taste too. Spirituality is something I am always curious about it; and the topic itself is vast, and even though I have read a little about different religions and I have my own believes, I haven’t dedicated that much of my time to it, at least not as much as Miles, so I am always bombarding him with questions. Poor soul!
When we arrive in Kanchanaburi, near 22.00h, I realize my mistake! I checked directions to another place and not to the bus terminal. Miles’ phone is dead, so we have to figure out how to get to my directions, and from there, to the place where we supposed to make camp for tonight.
We discover that my location is 17 Km away from the bus terminal. Great! (sarcasm) Miles suggest we hitchhike, and I say sure!
It doesn’t take long until a lovely family, with a young woman as a translator, takes us. We climb up in the trunk and that’s our first time hitchhiking together. Yay!
I was hoping to get some food in a food stand, but because it is so late, they are all already closed. The only option is grab something from 7-11.
We eat and chat a bit longer outside the shop, then we start walking towards a camping spot I saw it on Google Maps. Although it is an OK place for camping, only after putting out tents down is that we realise that the ground is covered in thorns. Thorns! Damn it! But what to do? We both don’t feel like undoing the tents and start walking again, so after checking it will be OK with the sleeping bags, we go to sleep.
10 Years Around the World 