Tuesday 23rd November 2004
I checked out of New World at midday and made my way to Ekhamai Bus station by taxi. If I had more time to spare I wouldn't have chosen to go by taxi. It cost 200 baht, whereas I could have got there by boat and sky train for 48 baht, some sweat and physical exercise. Not that I am really tight with my money, but when traveling on a shoestring it all adds up and besides those corners you cut on cost always lead you into some kind of adventure, which provide much more interesting stories to tell at dinner parties!
I bought the ticket to Chantaburi and had the smoothest of journeys. The most comfortable and seemingly quick four-hour bus journey I think I have ever experienced. On the bus we were provided with some kind of sweet cake and Pepsi cola, served by a uniformed hostess. It was a brand-new bus too. Much better than the quality of transport in England. We were also entertained by two movies, which were Chinese and dubbed in Thai, so I had to follow the stories by site alone, which was fun. Actually I managed to pick up the plot pretty well I think. The first was a lighted-hearted, adventure/martial arts fantasy. Demons versus beautiful female Kung Fu heroines*. The second one was a visually stunning martial arts drama, which reminded me of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon with the same lead actress; Zhang Zhi. I'd love to see it with English subtitles.**
I was the only Westerner on the bus, which made me feel like a real adventurer, (a tip of the hat to Michael Palin) and arrived in Chantaburi bus terminal at 5.30pm. There were taxi drivers waiting at the terminal all really eager to get a fare as I made my way to the information window inside the terminal and had a good laugh trying to communicate in broken English about how to get to the border. The woman at the information desk told me to come back tomorrow, so I hopped in to a songtheu, which is a pickup truck/taxi and a very common site in Thailand. The driver drove me into town and took me to a side street where there is a minibus that departs for Pa Khad, which is the border crossing to Cambodia. It was too late to get a minibus now, so the plan was to stay in Chantaburi for a night and move on the next day. The driver suggested a place just over the bridge by the side of the river called the River Guesthouse, which turned out to be a lovely place to stay.
The River Guesthouse was just what I needed. Not over budget, very new, about a year old and run by two very charming and charismatic Thai ladies. Wow since leaving the relative security of the city I have effortlessly managed to find a little spot of paradise to spend some relaxing time before I venture into more unknown territory in Cambodia. There are hardly any tourists in this town. I think most foreign visitors who come here are in the gem trade visiting on business. Being so far from anything touristy, despite the fact that nobody speaks English I feel really happy, sitting here finishing my bottle of Singha beer with ice, looking out over the river, with the smoke rising from the mosquito coils under the table and listening to the entertainment in the hotel restaurant, which is a guy singing classic English/American pop songs with his guitar.
* I discovered later that the first movie on the bus was called 'Twins Effect II'. My knowledge of Chinese pop culture is pretty limited, but 'Twins Effect' are a female pop duo, I believe, who also star in major movies and TV. In China I think they have superstar status and they're really cute! Jackie Chan's son also stars in this movie and Jackie Chan himself makes a cameo appearance.
** I went on to find out that the 2nd film I saw was 'House Of Flying Daggers', which was pretty successful in Europe and the USA as well as in Asia. Not surprisingly because Zhang Zhi is an actress of such high quality, it really doesn't matter what language you see her performances in. The camera work and martial arts sequences are second to none and the story is nothing short of beautiful. The Chinese really do know how to make epic movies. This is one of the most visually stunning and unforgettable films I have ever seen and I consequently bought it when I returned to Bangkok, which is where I found out the identity of this movie in a DVD store.
