It's very sad to leave Thailand today. Three weeks just isn't enough! There's still so much to see and do and many islands I still have to explore. Thailand is on my list of countries I must return to visit, though after making so many Aussie friends along the way, I think Australia is next on my list!
A travel day in Thailand is not without stories! This time I was prepared for the frequent bus stops and minivan transfers on my way from Ao Nang to Phuket airport. At one point between stops in Krabi, we got pulled over by the highway police in what appears to be a speed trap or check point of sorts. Many cars are being pulled over and few are getting through without the police whistle. My driver gets out and follows a policeman to a table off the side of the road where more policemen sit, writing tickets and taking money from drivers. Every driver hands over money and walks back to their cards, but not our driver. Not sure if he didn't have a valid license or what the deal was, but he was on the phone and different policemen kept coming over, chatting and walking away. One policeman opens the door to our van and asks a girl where she's from and then walks away. What is going on? We're all confused and looking at each other with puzzled expressions. What's wrong with our driver? Is he a criminal? Is he going to jail and we'll be stranded? Is he calling another driver to come get us and finish our transport? Next thing I know, our driver walks over to a group of policemen on the side, hands them a rather large wad of Bhat, gets in the van and starts driving away. What just happened? Pretty sure he just paid off the cop for whatever he did wrong.
There's only one shuttle daily to the Phuket airport so I arrive at 2pm for my 6:15pm flight. Lots of time to kill. I sport a Dunkin Donuts and a huge grin splashes across my face----Chocolate and Coffee!!! YESSSSS. I grab 3 chocolate munckins and an iced coffee which costs me more money than my last 3 dinners combined. Sigh. Then I bite into my first chocolate munchkin. What the????? This is no munchkin! Does Asia not have any real chocolate? Even the coffee doesn't taste like Dunks. Oh well.
My flight takes off just in time to watch the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen. As soon as we broke through the clouds, the orange hue was transitioning to a bright pink and then red. The clouds were so thick, they looked like the ocean with occasional hong islands made of cotton balls. Stunning. I'm lucky I was on the west side of the plane.
When I arrived in Colombo, I am greeted by a driver who will take me the rest of the way to Galle. A new toll road was built recently, cutting the drive in half from 4.5 hrs to about 2... so I was told. Once in the car, fear took over. We are swerving between lanes, not around cars or to pass cars, but just because. We would speed up and slow down and come to an almost complete stop when another car would pass. There were police lining the streets pulling anyone over for money. They don't want to write tickets here, just get money under the table (I guess it's the same as in Thailand). They ask for about 1200-2000 Sri Lankan Rupee ($10-20 usd) and then let you go. These police traps are quite the theme today. The police pretty much stick to Colombo, so I feel a little relieved to finally get on the highway to Galle. Well.... that relief didn't last long.
I was white knuckled about 20 meters past the on ramp. Speed limit is only 100kmph but it's clear that my driver isn't comfortable driving on this completely empty freeway at 2am! We still swerve lanes; we speed up to 120 and proceed to quickly slam on his brakes till we get back down to 65-70 kmph, then speed up again. Dad- it's worse than your peddle pumping!!!
The fog rolls in and he turns on the wipers, which do nothing for the fog, but do smear the dirt on his windshield. Then flicks between brights/no lights and settles back on brights. In fog. Good. The whole process of wiping dirt, flashing brights and brake pumping continue for the rest of the 3 hour (not 2) drive to my new home- Leijay Resort.
I finally get in around 4am and have a few hours to sleep before I have to get to the hospital for my first day. I won't be by myself this next month. In Sri Lanka I will meet up with two of my awesome classmates, Mollie and Holly. All three of us are lucky enough to participate in this international clinical rotation.
A travel day in Thailand is not without stories! This time I was prepared for the frequent bus stops and minivan transfers on my way from Ao Nang to Phuket airport. At one point between stops in Krabi, we got pulled over by the highway police in what appears to be a speed trap or check point of sorts. Many cars are being pulled over and few are getting through without the police whistle. My driver gets out and follows a policeman to a table off the side of the road where more policemen sit, writing tickets and taking money from drivers. Every driver hands over money and walks back to their cards, but not our driver. Not sure if he didn't have a valid license or what the deal was, but he was on the phone and different policemen kept coming over, chatting and walking away. One policeman opens the door to our van and asks a girl where she's from and then walks away. What is going on? We're all confused and looking at each other with puzzled expressions. What's wrong with our driver? Is he a criminal? Is he going to jail and we'll be stranded? Is he calling another driver to come get us and finish our transport? Next thing I know, our driver walks over to a group of policemen on the side, hands them a rather large wad of Bhat, gets in the van and starts driving away. What just happened? Pretty sure he just paid off the cop for whatever he did wrong.
 |
| Our driver. |
My flight takes off just in time to watch the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen. As soon as we broke through the clouds, the orange hue was transitioning to a bright pink and then red. The clouds were so thick, they looked like the ocean with occasional hong islands made of cotton balls. Stunning. I'm lucky I was on the west side of the plane.
When I arrived in Colombo, I am greeted by a driver who will take me the rest of the way to Galle. A new toll road was built recently, cutting the drive in half from 4.5 hrs to about 2... so I was told. Once in the car, fear took over. We are swerving between lanes, not around cars or to pass cars, but just because. We would speed up and slow down and come to an almost complete stop when another car would pass. There were police lining the streets pulling anyone over for money. They don't want to write tickets here, just get money under the table (I guess it's the same as in Thailand). They ask for about 1200-2000 Sri Lankan Rupee ($10-20 usd) and then let you go. These police traps are quite the theme today. The police pretty much stick to Colombo, so I feel a little relieved to finally get on the highway to Galle. Well.... that relief didn't last long.
I was white knuckled about 20 meters past the on ramp. Speed limit is only 100kmph but it's clear that my driver isn't comfortable driving on this completely empty freeway at 2am! We still swerve lanes; we speed up to 120 and proceed to quickly slam on his brakes till we get back down to 65-70 kmph, then speed up again. Dad- it's worse than your peddle pumping!!!
The fog rolls in and he turns on the wipers, which do nothing for the fog, but do smear the dirt on his windshield. Then flicks between brights/no lights and settles back on brights. In fog. Good. The whole process of wiping dirt, flashing brights and brake pumping continue for the rest of the 3 hour (not 2) drive to my new home- Leijay Resort.
I finally get in around 4am and have a few hours to sleep before I have to get to the hospital for my first day. I won't be by myself this next month. In Sri Lanka I will meet up with two of my awesome classmates, Mollie and Holly. All three of us are lucky enough to participate in this international clinical rotation.
Holly was an Athletic Trainer before coming to PA school and she is also a degree-collector, like me. Actually, maybe it's better to call ourselves "life-long learners". Anyways, she's a Steelers fan who considers Florida, Pittsburgh, and NC home. 
Mollie is a Minnesota girl who loves to travel and has an interest in public health. Actually, she spent some time in Tanzania doing HIV/AIDs prevention training with the Global Services Corps. Mollie and I do a lot of biking and traveling around NC together, and it was really hard to find a pic of her (or us) not in spandex or dripping with sweat... so this is the pic you get of her and I (6am pre-triathlon/ pre-sweat)!More to come from the hospital!
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