Regarding Travel Ruts, Bad Days, and Slimy Travel Agents

All long term travelers have bad days on the road.  It is inevitable.  From delayed trains to being scammed to cold showers, there are a near infinite number of possibilities for the way something can go wrong, and the longer you're on the road, the more likely you'll come across a few.

A travel rut occurs not due to external sources but internal.  After a decent period of time on the road, all travelers have a period of burnout.  Sites may begin to blur, local people may appear extra annoying, and an overall desire to site see may drop to incredibly low levels. 

These are the two biggest challenges to the mentality of a traveler, and being in a foreign environment makes it not an easy thing to snap out of when they occur.  A bad day can pass quickly once the stimulus has been removed.  But a travel rut needs a bit more effort and can come upon in cyclical patterns.
 

Spending a day doing something you'd normally do at home (going to a movie) is a great way to bring comfort to yourself while on the road during the onset of a travel rut, and is my personal favorite.  Other tasks, like spending a day on the computer, might not work for some as it doesn't provide true relaxation.   The act of being in a purchased room glued to a monitor does not relieve built up stresses as well as it is still in an unusual environment.

The problem with travel ruts is that everyone is different, and a different direction needs to be taken person to person, situation to situation.  Extreme cases might even require leaving a city, country, or region for greener pastures.  It may sound off the wall, but it does happen, and long term travelers in-making should be fully aware it will happen at one point.

Coming off the edge of a recent travel rut, I had a bad day thrown at me in the process which just poured salt into a near closed wound.  To get over the rut, I spent three days on a private beach in near isolation and relaxation.  At the end, I moved on from my location (Koh Phangan) to a new destination to enjoy at my best (Koh Lanta).  But getting there, seemed almost impossible thanks to a few slimy travel agents.

To travel between Koh Phangan to Koh Lanta, the process includes a boat to the mainland, bus to nearby Surat Thani, van to Krabi, and another van with ferry crossing to Koh Lanta and is advertised to take 6-7 hours.  Getting up at 5:30 in the morning, I was on my way and looking forward to hitting a beach around 3pm.

Within the first hour on the ferry, I awoke from a nap to find the ship literally spinning in slow circles.  It turns out that part of the components that control the engine failed, and once the ship was back in control we hobbled into port in twice the scheduled time.

From that point on it was bus after bus with quick and hurried transfers until we reached Krabi.  During this time no one was allotted enough time to even use the toilet or buy food, adding to the frustration.  Finally when the a group of travelers were dropped off in Krabi, we were rushed to use the toilet to make ferry time for travelers heading to Koh Phi Phi.

Dropped at a travel agency in Krabi, the nightmare really began.  Upon arriving, three slimy sales people jumped on each traveler asking about their destination.  Questions like "where are you going? how long are you staying? do you have a hotel? where are you going after?"  These were asked to the point that it was obvious they were only wanting to make a sale.  In fact, I was asked on three unique times to buy a hotel from them, even though they knew that I already had one.  During the course of the exchange, statements like "show me" and "If you buy from us, you get free transfer from the pier" came up, and I nearly blew up in the process. 

At that point I just wanted to leave, but was informed the next bus wouldn't leave for over 2 hours as they had to wait for more people to arrive.  Pissed, I relented.  4pm can come and I can leave.  Within a few minutes, the time became 4:30.  That time came and no bus, same excuse.  With no new people in site, the departure was now set as 5pm.   At 4:45pm, people showed up but was told the new time would be 5:30 while waiting for more.   Meanwhile, this whole time I was sitting next to, and pointing at, a sign that said vans to Koh Lanta depart every hour. 

A nearby travel agency had a bus going at 6 which I was going to pay extra to get on, as I could tell that this was not going to go anywhere.  5:20 rolls around, and it began to rain and get dark.  I ran to a different travel agency nearby who tried to get me on a 5:30 bus.  Running back to the lousy travel agency to grab my bag to leave, I was immediately thrown on a waiting van, which was parked outside for 45 minutes, and arrived at my hotels doorstep 2 hours later.  

The experience getting from Koh Phangan to Koh Lanta is one I hope to not have to relive again in any of my future travels.  Although the transfer is over and I safely made it to my hotel, I am still upset. Having a bad day coming off of a travel rut is a bad combination to have and results in more anger than in normal circumstances.  Matcha Tours (the travel agency that ran the leg of the route) was clearly pissing off every visitor that came through their Krabi branch office with poor business tactics and deceit in order to make a sale.  That, unfortunately, I cannot forgive, and they will not be earning a single cent of my travel budget during the rest of my time in Thailand or any other country that they operate out of.  

Luckily, Koh Lanta is fabulous, and the travel rut is long gone.   Time for some quality time with a motorbike and a few beautiful beaches!