The One Where We Were Almost Taken

When we were in Thailand, we took a flight from Bangkok to Surat Thani.  We were trying to avoid high costs of a direct flight from Bangkok to Koh Samui.  The easy, direct ways always are just that, easy and direct.  I prefer the uncomfortable and long bus/ferry rides, don't you?  Builds character.  Plus, we would never have had this story to tell.

We were one of the first to get on the bus at the airport and while we were waiting for the other passengers to load up and find their seats, we noticed these two European guys.  These were the type of guys that look kind of mysterious with their rugged good looks and aviator glasses.  The type that if you dared talk to them would have you with their witty rhetoric and charm, or maybe just with their smile, that might do it too.  You'd like to know who they are, what they do, and where they've been.  The types that would talk to naive girls traveling alone, then tell their thug bosses, later taking you as their slaves.  We wouldn't have let our imaginations run wild, if they weren't chatting it up with our bus drivers, like they had known them for years, or had not pointed at us while we walked towards the bus.  Something was seriously wrong with this picture.  The guys were the last to get on the bus and decided to take the seats in front of us.  Lovely.  We whispered to each other not to say anything about where we were staying, just in case.

The ride was going smooth, well not really we were on a bus.  About halfway through, this Thai man comes up to us from the back of the bus.  He's holding a map of the island and frantically asking us where we are staying.
"Where you stay?  Where you stay?  I can help you.  Cheap way."
"We are staying on the island."
"Where?  Where hotel?" He's persistent.  Mysterious Euro guys ears perking up.
"Why do you need to know?"
"I help you.  Cheap, you get off in city, take other car, go to ferry, cheap."
"Umm, no."
The next thing we know the bus stops in the middle of nowhere and the man is jumping off.  He's gone.  He didn't go up to any of the other passengers, but we were also the only girls traveling alone.

I was still thinking, if these Euro guys are going to our island they could follow our taxi and easily find out where we are staying.  Heart pounding, just a little.  They got off at a different stop than us.  We went on our merry way to the ferry and on to our delightful bungalow on Koh Samui.

Travel stories are the best!

No one was taken, thank goodness because our dad is no Liam Neeson, he said so himself.  Yes, our parents watched Taken right before we flew halfway around the world to Southeast Asia.  They still let us go.  And no, we did not tell them this story until we were safely back in the States.