We arrived here in Udon after a LONG stint of traveling. It started after killing a day / recovering from the Full Moon Party. We then hopped on a boat that was basically a floating dorm. Each of the two levels of the boats held ~100 mattresses and pillows/rocks in pillow cases. It was a pretty weird set up, but a good way for us to travel since we didn't really want to spend a night in Surat Thani (the mainland port). The boat was really slow, taking 7 hours to cover a slightly longer route then the ferry took 2.5hrs to cross.
Our travels were just starting though. We arrived at the dock at 5am where we were ordered into a van (that's only a minor exaggeration) that would take us to the airport. Or so we thought. In fact the van took us around the block (after we paid) and we were then told to get out and wait an hour. Uh...no! We convinced them that actually we were ready to go now thank you very much. So instead we transferred to a personal car. The result was that Steph and I were dropped off at the airport at about 5:40...with NO ONE around. The place was absolutely deserted!
To cut the story short we ended up getting in 45mins later, cleaning up a bit and then waiting for our flight that was changed from 8:40 to 11 (aargh!). We were sure that meant we were going to miss our connecting flight to Udon. Not to worry though! Nok air came through and canceled our flight, moving us to one at 5pm (they were nice enough to feed us while we waited for 4hrs though).
Eventually we arrived into Steph's new town around 6pm and were picked up by her school which was gracious enough to put me up at her apartment (well Steph was gracious enough actually) and then take me out to dinner as well.
I've been really impressed with Steph's situation so far. The school is very well equipped and as ridiculous as teaching 3-4yr olds English sounds, it seems to work really well (it's basically a language immersion preschool/kindergarten). The best part for Steph, in my opinion, is that there seems to be a really great group of 20-something girls already here teaching (from 1yr-6-weeks experience). We've gone out with them both nights now and they've all been very friendly and helpful.
So now I'm getting ready to head out on my own. I was imagining that I would stay here a bit longer and help Steph get settled in, but I don't think I can do as good as job as they can! I'm think I'm now going to head out either tomorrow afternoon or Friday morning (Steph is of course cheering for Friday) and go up to Laos. Traveling with Steph has made the experience so much more easy, but more importantly, enjoyable, but I am excited to set out on my own for a few weeks and then of course excited to welcome mom to SEAsia!
The blogs may now be fewer and farther between (without Steph's laptop), but I'm sure the fun and sights won't be!
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