[Phi Phi to Pak Bara, Thailand] The beaches and islands have made us soft. Today’s hour long ferry ride followed by 6 and a half hours of minibuses felt much harder than the 18 hour bus rides we were doing in China.

The weather was great when we said goodbye to Phi Phi and the ferry ride was smooth and easy. A minibus was waiting for us in Krabi and we set off almost without delay, which was good – not like the other day with the long wait at the hub. We tried to doze with limited success but at least the roads were smooth and straight. Heavy rain in the afternoon hit as we pulled into a fancy minibus station near Hat Yai. A short wait and we were on another van to Pak Bara. We still can’t get over how easy it is to travel here. We were deposited outside a travel agency near the ferry dock in Pak Bara who sold us speedboat tickets for tomorrow and arranged a really cheap (beyond basic) bungalow for the night – they even got the minibus to drop us off at the bungalow!

Pak Bara is dead. It’s primary function I suspect is the ferry to Koh Lipe. It seems they did have a KFC, but the closed signed indicates it has moved 10km down the road and even I won’t walk that far for KFC. We found a pleasant little restaurant (Red Boat). There were maybe 3 open, all empty, but Red Boat happened to have an open WiFi point nearby. We were the only patrons and the old husband and wife holding down the fort weren’t prepared for any customers (I guess they normally run the kitchen). We managed to communicate an order once the lady had found her specs (thankfully the menu was in English and Thai) but when a second couple took a table panic set in. In no time a young chap, I assume their son, arrived to take over the waitering duties. It was quite sweet.

[Pictures: Bara Guest house – good for a night :)]

– Posted from my iPhone via WiFi