Ok, "leaving James Bond Style" does not include being picked up by a helicopter or shooting off with a rocket attached to the back. Instead we booked our own long tail boat to take us to Phuket. It also marked the end of our shared holiday with Katrine, Jeppe and Karl since they would be heading for the airport and we would try to get a bus north Khao Sok National park.
We were picked up by the long tail boat on the beach at 11 am, and even though Jeppe tried it was a bit difficult to look like James Bond with a stroller. The trip with the long tail boat lasted for about an hour before we made it to the dock on the main land. The crossing was a bit windy and choppy but we all managed to hang on to our belongings and the boat. Once on the main land we found a minibus to take us to Phuket and the main bus terminal, Katrine and Jeppe waiting for a ride the opposite direction to Phuket Airport. Big hugs and we said "farewell" to each other before heading towards Phuket bus terminal #2
It took around one hour to get to the bus terminal, the next direct bus not departing before 3 PM meant plenty of time to go look for some local food. At 3 PM the bus departed and the usual "go-2 kilometres-and-stop" service started. Our bus driver and his wife and son were taking good care of new passengers joining the service and before we left Phuket the bus was more or less full.
We spent the next 4 hours going north in this very old and slightly underpowered bus. It did bring back memories from our trip through central Asia last year to go this slow whenever the road was just slightly uphill. We passed through Khao Lak after a couple of hours and made a stop just before hitting the hills of Khao Sok national park in a small town.
This - it turned out - was also where the bus driver decided to spend around 30 minutes servicing the bus engine from inside and outside of the bus. It didn't reduce any of the sounds the bus made and it certainly didn't make it go faster.
We arrived at the bus stop close to our hostel at 7:20 PM and had a local taxi taking us around 1 kilometre down the road to our hostel. Checked in and ready for some food we enjoyed a quiet evening after a full day of travelling. The guy at the hostel was super friendly in telling us about day trips for tomorrow so we are going to hang out in the morning and raft down a river in the afternoon. Sounds like a doable plan.
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| Check out from Heimat |
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| Getting all the stuff to the long tail boat |
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| See you later Koh Yao Yai |
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| James Bond has arrived - with a Fjällräven bag |
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| At the pier in Phuket |
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| Great - flæskesvær for lunch |
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| Heading out of Phuket |
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| Bus driver looking at the engine |
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| Adding a bit of water to the engine |
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| Waiting the best we can |
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| Bus driver going all in with repairs - at the bus terminal |
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| Still no sign of driver - but his complete wardrobe is there |
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| We made it to our bungalow |
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| Great food for dinner - the Thai take on pumpkin soup - half pumpkin, half garlic |
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