I fell off a motorcycle (and other tales from Phuket)

Phuket Pictures

I arrived in Southern Thailand at 8:30 this morning via the night bus from Bangkok. A 13-hour overnight bus ride is never a pleasant experience, but it does allow me to travel during hours of the day I wouldn't be active anyway. I did get a fair amount of sleep (for a bus) and arrived in Phuket pretty damn excited to catch the boat to Ko Phi Phi, one of the most beautiful islands off the Thailand coast.

Imagine my disappointment at seeing rain and clouds. And arriving just late enough to miss the boat.

I decided to spend the day in Phuket, sightseeing, resting, and finishing my note. I checked into a hotel and bought a ticket for the early boat tomorrow.

After a shower, I hopped on a bus to Kamala Beach. Once there, I took a short walk to the shore to find that tsunami recovery work is still going on, and the beach is still strewn with debris. But the sun was coming out, there was an empty chair on the sand, and I had a Jane Austen novel burning a hole in my purse. So I faced the nicer part of the beach and read for a while.

So I'm on a beach in Phuket. On the way back to the main road, I saw a terrible, evil sign: Motorbikes for Rent. I inquired, and found they only cost $5 for 24 hours. I pulled on a helmet, jumped on a bike (after a short lesson in broken English) and hit the road.

For the first hour or so, I was feeling very badass. Zipping up and down the hills, around curves, stopping to take pictures at scenic spots. I was having a total BLAST.

Then I hit the non-stop traffic jam that is Patong (tourist central). Where people are crossing everywhere and I had to stop the bike all the time. And someone else's bike came way too close to mine, and I wasn't experienced enough to handle the bike properly. And I fell. While the bike was still moving, albeit slowly.

The good news is that I'm as un-hurt as one can possibly be after falling from a moving motorcycle. No broken bones. No head injuries. (Mom, no head impact whatsoever.) The bad news is that at least half the skin is missing from my right knee, and a few other places, and I'm in a whole lot of pain. Hurts to bend, walk, move, etc. But I'd still ride the bike all over again. Just don't think I'll be doing it again anytime in the near future.

Then I missed the bus back and had to hire a tuk-tuk back to town, which cost almost as much as my 13-hour bus ticket. But I was just happy to be back at my hotel, with my first aid kit.

I took my bloody bod to the local mall to catch "The DaVinci Code," which was so bad that I fell asleep in the middle. And I'm glad. The parts I was awake for were awful enough. Please skip this one. On the way back to the hotel, I tripped and scratched up my other knee.

Sigh. I guess I'll never be a supermodel now.

Tomorrow, Ko Phi Phi. Without accidents.