Arriving at the ferry terminal could not be easier, with a modern air conditioned terminal selling walk-up tickets to Koh Samui for 750 baht ($25). This fee covers both bike and passenger. I am jotting these notes as we watch the ferry dock and offload traffic coming the other way. It is all very relaxed and gentle in typical Thai fashion.
The ferry is a popular commercial service, and passengers sit on lounge chairs sipping cold drinks while the boat chugs across the bay. This certainly beats wrestling a large motorcycle into a small dugout.
- - - later - - -
It's funny how 'bike intercom language' goes through a reverse evolutionary process the longer you travel. The first day is chatty and with lots of casual conversation. This wanes very quickly, then is pared back to a series of one-word observations. I guess an anthropologist (Dee?) might call this pure language, as it conveys meaning without a single wasted word. A typical "conversation" approaching a hill crest may sound something like:
Ty: Clear ... Clear ... Clear ... Truck
Tony: Seen
Tony: Through
Gary: Through
This shorthand is not planned or considered, it just evolves, leaving each of us free to enjoy our own quiet space - a bizarre concept when you are hurtling past traffic at 100+ km/hr on 250kg of machinery.
