Today, once again I almost died.
Today was January 1st, 2017. Unlike all you Americans :p , new years for me is about 15 houes before yours.
So today I woke up in a bungalow I had booked(I had also booked a hostel, but I was fearful that I wouldn’t get the required sleep if I came home new years day).
My bungalow:
Sorry for the dark pictures, for some reason I felt I didn’t need to turn on the lights lol
Anyways, bungalows are great. It didn’t have AC, but honest I don’t care that much.
So anyways, this is the day I decide to ride a scooter. About 150cc I believe it was.
Now I should mention I’ve never ridden a scooter before. But damnit I want to try. I’ve been toying with the idea of trying to get lessons or whatnot, but everywhere I asked they said they don’t give them. Oh well.
For the record, scooters/motorcycles are EVERYWHERE in Thailand. Moreso then cars.
Anyways, so I get to the hostel after walking back from my bungalow, and apparently the hostel rents scooters. 200 bhat($6/day). So the Convo goes like this.
Me: “I’d like the 150cc scooter”
Him: “OK, 200 bhat”
Me: *gives him the money*
Him: *gives me the key*. It’s that scooter, parked right outside. You can have this helmet *gestures to helmet on table*.
And that was it! No paperwork, no taking of passports, no insurance. Real safe I know lol.
So I watch a few YouTube videos on how to ride a scooter and I’m ready to go.
Basically they’re all automatic, and there’s a throttle on the right handle that you turn to go faster. And then it stears like a bike and has breaks like a bike.
Here’s a pic of the one I was riding:
So I do a couple turns in the small parking lot we have, and then I just go fuck it, and head into traffic.
Tbh, it was way easier than I thought itd be. Just like riding a bicycle. Except faster.
So I start driving all over the island. First I go south, and stop at a great restaurant with this view:
Then I drive around, and eventually need to put some gas in my scooter. Not knowing where the gas opening is, or even what type of gas to use, I have someone else do it for me.
There are these street vendors that sell gas by the liter in glass containers. They look like this:
So naturally I go to some guys stand like this, and just buy one and he fill s up the scooter. I assume it’s either very marked up, or mixed with shit or both. But it’s not my bike, and as long as it doesn’t explode it’s good gas for me ???.
So anyways, more driving ensues. I meet a bunch of people having a dance party somewhere(if you daw my snapchat you know what I’m talking about). Saw some great views.
At one point I went down a dirt road(which is ill advised in a scooter, I know). A bunch of local kids saw me and started giving me high-fives on the scooter ??. Too cute.
I continue on my journey around the island, and eventually I need more gas. This time I stop by a legit gas station. Some locals see me struggling a bit(really I had it under control), and when they saw me with 300 bhat in my hand( $10) they start laughing.
“100 bhat full tank” the lady says. She fills the tank for me while I put the money in, all while laughing in good jest with her friends. To be honest, if some guy came to a gas station with $500 you’d probably laugh too saying it’s too much.
So I continue again on my journey. I go in freeways, over bridges, basically all over the place. I cover every inch of that island with my scooter. So much fun.
During my last leg, I’m making my way down to the lighthouse on the southern most tip. For reference, ko lanta looks like this:
And I was making my way down to the tip of the shaft, so to speak ???
Then.
Disaster struck.
I was driving down the road, and I went over a smallish pot hole while going around a gentle turn. I was probably going 25-30ish mph. My back tire started to skid. I thought maybe it was water or something(wtf brain, how does that make any sense). So I slow down gently, trying not to skid out.
Then still thinking it’s water and the skidding would stop, I stsrt to speed up again.
Nope. Bad idea.
So I pull over and see wtf is going on.
Anddddd it’s a flat. Well shit.
I’m not in the middle of nowhere, but I’m in between two towns, a good 20 minute walk. And if I had to walk the bike, it’d probably be an hour or more.
So fuck.
I try and go on Google and see where the nearest mechanic is. No such luck. Google maps is also useless.
I don’t know why my first inclination in times of trouble is to go to technology to figure out my problems. Time and time again my travels have proven just asking someone something will get you the results 10x faster, and with 10x better results. Be it asking for stuff to do, booking a room, food suggestions. People > technology, and this is coming from someone who works in technology. I think it’s the fear of social interaction that freaks me and and makes me run to a computer screen.
Anyways, I go to the closet house and have this conversation.
Me: “You speak English?”
Him: puzzled look
Me: “flat tire” *points to motorcycle*
Me: “know where to fix?”
After a few different iterations of this same conversation:
Him: “Down street, make right. Green house” *points to a green house*
Me: Thank you! Côp kun kraap.
So I take my bike and wheel it about 100 meters down the st. Mind you, these things are fucking heavy. Probably like 500 pounds or something like that. So with a flat it’s a PITA.
Finally I get to the green house. Here’s my interaction:
Me: “Hello?”
I see a man laying on the ground in his house relaxing. It’s Sunday, new years day. And this is some guys house, not a bike shop or mechanic shop or anything. They have chickens out front and clothes drying. So of course he’s relaxing.
Me: (louder) “Hello?”
A small child comes out.
Me: “Flat tire. Can you fix?” Point to bike.
She looks at bike, says something in Thai to her dad. The dad comes out. He’s wearing like just a towel and no shirt.
He motions for me to wheel it up to their outside garage.
Remember how I said those bikes were heavy? I consider myself a strong guy, but I struggled to get it up this slope. I kept slipping, struggling to get it up. The guy sees me struggling and helps.me push it up. Together we get it up to his house.
At rhis point, he pushes some lever on the bike to prop up the back wheel(not the kickstand). Obviously this guy’s knows bikes.
He also had 5-6 bikes out front. My guess is he’s a mechanic of some sort. I count my lucky stars that’d I’d break down near a mechanics house.
Anyways, he gets to work, ordering his kid to turn on the pump.
Now a little background for people who don’t know how tires work(I’m looking at you Casey Wessel). They basically have an outer rubber casing, the thing that comes in contact with the road. Then they have a “tube” on the inside that goes between the rubber cover and the metal rim of the wheel. This is the part that gets inflated. I don’t know the technical terms, sorry.
Anyways, he pops off the rubber part with a flathead, and begins to inflate the tube with the pump. It deflates, as does my hope. Obviously it was punctured by something I ran over. And now the only way to fix this is either to patch the hole somehow(which never works), or put in a new tube. And I’m doubtful this guy will be carrying spare tubes for the make and model of my bike in his personal house.
Here’s a pic of the bike while this is going on. It’s the only pic of the incident I have and it’s kinda blurry, sorry.
Anyways, the whole time he’s working on it, I’m standing there like an idiot unsure what to do. He tells me, “please take a seat”.
At this point the motherfucker takes out a handsaw. Yes, a handsaw. I’m not sure what you need a saw for when working in a bike, except to trap silly tourists by destroying their vehicles. I didn’t get the feeling this guy was going to fuck me over, but I was perplexed why he needed the saw.
Then he starts sawing through the tube of the old tire. Oh, so hes going to take that one off and put a new one on. Cool. Guess he does have a spare. But how is he going to get the new tube on if he needs to saw this one off??
I don’t wait to find out, becuse like the guy said he wanted me to take a seat at the front of his house, so I wouldn’t be able to see what he’s doing. Maybe people watching him makes him nervous. Anyways I go to the front of the house and wait out my fate.
The little girl comes around ahead, hops on one of the motorcycles that’s in this guy’s front yard(it looks like a project by the way it’s half run down). She starts it, smiles at me, I laugh and give a smile back.
Then more waiting.
Finally after about 10 min, the guy calls me over. The tires back on, fully inflated. I check it and it seems fine.
I thank the guy, and hand him 1000 bhat. Note this is 5 times the daily rental price of the bike.
While I was waiting, I looked how much these repairs cost, and it’s usually 100bhat($3) for a new tube. However, this is a guys house, it’s his day off, and I’m some shitty tourist asking for help. And 1000 bhat is only $30, so i dont feel bad letting that money go to a good cause. The guy says thank you and I’m about to head out. Then his wife calls after me waving the $1000 bhat. I assume she thinks it’s wayyy to much, but I just wave her off saying keep it and whatnot.
Besides. I need to pay back the karma gods for letting me break down in such a non-dangeous way in front of a mechanics house lol.
So anyways, the rest of the day is uneventfully. I drive down to the tip of the shaft ?, go into a national park(which costs $8! Outrageous), check out a lighthouse, and drive back. Here’s some pics from the lighthouse:
Tomorrow I’m going on a snorkeling tour. If it’s anything like the one me and molly went on, it should be a lot of fun. Plus I’ll get to use my swim suit for the first time for this trip!
And as I write this from a bar, this cat is just sitting here on the bar staring at me. Soaking in the… somehing. Cats and dogs here are so cute, and they’re EVERYWHERE.
Anyways, that’s it for now.
