On Our Way!

We do not believe in jinxes and it has been said that coincidences are usually well planned. That being said, for the second time, Frank had an accident soon after I told him to be careful and not get hit! The first time, we were riding together and as soon as I said be careful, he ran into the railing, tore his pants wide open, cut a gash in his leg and left me with bruises. Last night, I specifically told him that I did not want anything to keep us from leaving this morning, so be careful. Around midnight, he called me. “You remember what you told me about being careful?” That’s a bad way to start a conversation. A guy had run into the back of his back, whipping it around and throwing Frank to the ground. His bike was broken, he had road rash, and of course, the culprit was nowhere in sight! Frank was pushing the busted bike down the highway, miles from home. If it had been me, I would have begged him to come pull me home, but he never asked. As of last weekend, I now have a scooter I am not ashamed to ride, so I went to pull him back home. We were in bed around 2am and up again at 5:00 walking down the same highway, flagging down a taxi. (yawn!) At least he isn’t hurt worse!

I haven’t been as excited about going on this trip as I thought I would be. I think its partly because I wasn’t sure it would really happen. We had visa issues, bike accidents, a hike in ticket prices and when we went through immigration in our city to board the plane, they told us our passports had a problem. They put Frank in a holding room and told me that my passport which doesn’t expire till 2016, was too old. Apparently, the shadow of the American eagle that overlays our picture was the first they had seen and then I had added pages which completely threw them! In a matter of minutes, it was all sorted out but perhaps you can see my hesitation to hold my breath about arriving. The bus we were supposed to take was canceled too and we had to change buses several times before arriving at the Southern Bus Terminal. We were pleasantly surprised at how helpful the locals are and willing to help. It is totally different from the last time we were here, when no one wanted to help and some were actually very mean. The political tension then was very high with riots and barricades in the streets so perhaps it just fed through to us. At any rate, we have smiling faces here in the Land of Smiles! And, ahhhhhh! Warm Weather! It should be 12-20 hours bus ride before we reach our friends in Krabi. We will catch up with you there!!

“Getting there is half the fun!”

mandachino