We used the public transportation to get from Krabi to the first gas station where we bought a car map of Thailand, a bottle of water and a blue marker. We found a piece of cardboard in the garbage and used it to write the name of a town on the way to Hua Hin on it \u2013 it was for the people so they knew where we were headed. We said our hitchhiking prayers and raised our thumbs.<\/p>\n
The first person who pulled over gave us a ride for some 60 kilometres. Even though they offered us a ride to Phuket, we refused it. The second ride was for some 100 kilometres, plus an extra 20 kilometres because the driver wanted to make it easier for us to carry on with our journey. As far as it concerns our third ride, we didn\u2019t even ask them where they were headed: we simply hopped onto the back part of the pick-up. The wind was too strong, and we tried to make ourselves comfortable, but we didn\u2019t succeed. Luckily, they pulled over very shortly at a rest point, so we managed to rearrange the things in the back part of the truck settling ourselves and relining our backs on the part of the truck that was connected to the driver\u2019s cabin.<\/p>\n After that, the driver made us very happy when he announced that he was heading all the way to Bangkok which meant that the very same night we were going to arrive to Hua Hin where we would have a roof above our head.\u00a0 All we had to do was hang on through that windy ride. Finally, after nine hours and three different drivers we were in Hua Hin. We didn\u2019t know anything about it, just like about any of our four destinations in Thailand. However, what we did know was Jon\u2019s cell phone number. He was supposed to pick us up in the centre of the town and take us home. So, we called him, he picked us up, took us to a supermarket, filled our carts to the top, insisted on paying the bill, put us in a tuk-tuk, and took us to the suburbs of the town where his big mansion with a pool was situated.<\/p>\n Jon is a middle-aged Norwegian who had decided to spend two months in Thailand, and that is the reason why he had rented a villa with a pool. According to his standard, the villa was practically free. However, he did feel a bit bored so he decided to host CSers who were passing by, just like Chloe and I. The villa was enormous: it had two floors, four bedrooms each of which had a private bathroom and, more importantly, an air conditioner. Although we didn\u2019t have anything to do there we stayed for a few days, simply to enjoy a cool room, clean sheets, refreshing pool, and a full fridge. And, of course, each other.<\/p>\n We weren\u2019t the only CSers in the house \u2013 when we got there, there was already a Russian girl, and a couple of days later two Spanish came carrying bags on wheels. That sight always makes me laugh, I just can\u2019t help myself. We didn\u2019t see much of Hua Hin which is known as a place where the royal family summer house is. One night, Jon showed us around the town\u2019s market which is full of stands with Thai food, souvenirs and other things tourist might find interesting. We bought a postcard. Also, we spotted a lot of Thailand girls standing in front of the bars and clubs, watching us pass by with their big eyes wide open.<\/p>\n Jon explained to us what it was all about \u2013 a middle-aged well-off Europeans come to Thailand looking for love, and the poor Thailand girls welcome them, all caring and affectionate, carrying huge pretty smiles on their faces. There are two ways of getting together between the two, and one of these is the following \u2013 the girls are chilling out in front of the bars, the guys get inside, buy them a drink, pull a move on them, they get to know each other, and then the both sides decide if they\u2019re compatible to spend a night\/week\/month\/life together. And it functions: one side gets what he can\u2019t get in Europe \u2013 a beautiful, young and caring companion, while the other side gets what she can\u2019t get in Thailand \u2013 an easier life which promises a happier future. Jon\u2019s brother met his companion in the same way, and both of them are happy. At least that\u2019s what Jon says. We neither check it, nor judged it. However, I\u2019ve got to admit that it does get funny when it\u2019s virtually impossible to see a middle-aged white man without a Thai girl with him.<\/p>\n It had been over ten days since I started my vegetarian adventure. I felt good since I didn\u2019t feel any desire for meat, and as I had the opportunity to watch a few documentaries about this type of diet, just to see the medical perspective. Despite the fact I don\u2019t like extremes and being limited I have to admit it did make sense, especially when I considered all new facts I learnt. One of them was about the harm dairy products can cause to your health…who would\u2019ve thought.<\/p>\n The whole situation reminded me of the period I started leading my current way of. It all happened during my first years in Uni: one day I woke up and told to myself that I would do away with all my former attitudes, forget all the things I\u2019d been taught at home, school, in church, what I heard through media, and I decided to start all over again. A new start included questioning everything, not taking anything for granted, ready to change all my attitudes that had been firmly grounded in me for all those years. Not having any prejudices. Not having an opinion of my own. Learning. Listening. And I realized it was eye-opening. Moreover, I realized that I had been wrong about so many things. I began to understand that the society had formed me and turned me into a person who I was. Croatia is the best country in the whole world. All religions besides ours are simply wrong. Eat meat, you cannot live without it. Believe what is being said on the television and what is being written in the newspapers. Listen to your teachers and do not doubt the facts that are written in your school books.<\/p>\n Bullshit. It\u2019s so stunning how many people know, without really knowing. They heard of it somewhere, they don\u2019t know anyone who does it differently, and so it must be the right way. Vegetarianism is only one of many examples. I was, practically, raised on meat. The only day we didn’t eat meat was Friday. And also two or three days a year when you can\u2019t wait for midnight to stuff yourself with all the food you were forbidden to eat the previous day. In 2009, Chloe was at our place for a Sunday lunch. When I told my parents that Chloe was a vegetarian, my dad said with a smile on his face \u2013 She can eat grass from our back yard; because that\u2019s the only thing we have for vegetarians.<\/em> Funny guy, my dad is.<\/p>\n But, honestly, how much do we know? How many discussions do we lead just to convince someone our argument is the right one? How many times do we fall out with someone just because we fail to agree that we disagree? How many times do we focus our attention on the differences that exist between people, instead of the similarities? Too many.<\/p>\n So, these are the reasons why I travel. I\u2019d decided that I know nothing. I\u2019d decided to start from the beginning, discovering all aspects, not just one. I wanted to listen, and not speak; get to know places, people, customs I knew about only what I had been told by others. And you know what? They\u2019d lied to me in order to conceal their lack of knowledge, to protect their own ass, to form me in a way convenient for them. Whoever they<\/em> are, they are doing a great job.<\/p>\n When I was leaving Croatia I\u2019d been told to watch out in Serbia. In the same way, when I was leaving Serbia I\u2019d been told to watch out in Bulgaria. Then, to watch out in Turkey. In Turkey they tried to scared me with the Kurds; the Kurds with the Iranians; the Iranians with the Pakistani and so on and on. Do you know where I had problems? Absolutely nowhere. Actually, in the past four years the only problem I had was in Zagreb, on the bus station when I was attacked by the supporters of one football club just because they thought I supported another football club. In the meanwhile, I\u2019ve been in thirty countries, hitchhiked, slept by the street, in the homes of unknown people, passed through some dangerous<\/em> countries, fallen ill while I was in the dirties parts of the world, ate in the restaurants which wouldn\u2019t satisfy the basic sanitary controls in the western countries.<\/p>\n And here I am, safe and sound. Happy. Sometimes sad. Lonely, every now and then. However, I was FREE; free to do what I wanted, to follow my dreams, no matter how meaningless and pointless they may seem to someone. I don\u2019t care if someone thinks that I\u2019m wasting my life, not having a normal<\/em> job, not having an apartment and a mortgage to pay for the next thirty years. I don\u2019t care where you\u2019re from, what you look like and in which god you believe. I learnt all these things form my journeys. All the kilometres, countries, buildings, natural beauties, everything, would be in vain if I didn\u2019t learn this lesson.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not about the journeys. There are so many ways for one to grow up, so many ways to be happier, to be what you\u2019ve always dreamt to be. Journeys are my way of achieving it, not better nor worse than anyone else\u2019s. Here you go.<\/p>\n I got a bit carried away.<\/p>\n —<\/p>\n The last day in Hua Hin. We said goodbye to Jon and with the Spanish couple headed for Bangkok. Since they had never hitchhiked we showed them the procedure, and let them stand some fifty meters ahead of us, so someone can pick them up sooner. That happened, only five minutes after we wished them a safe trip. However, while they were getting in, Chloe and I exchanged looks, ran towards them, and after the driver gave us a signal we hopped into the truck. All the way to Bangkok.<\/p>\n Once in Bangkok, we looked for Jordan, a CSer who decided to host us at least for a few days even though he was moving to Chiang Mai. He said that he didn\u2019t host anyone during those days, but he was fascinated by our request. Jordan\u2019s apartment was a total chaos. Five people in one room, beer bottles all over the floor, you couldn\u2019t tell where anyone sleeps, whose things were on the floor and whose on the chairs \u2013 the guys told us they hadn\u2019t slept for two days and we believed them. Adjustment: after five days of sheer luxury, five days of student life. We could do this.<\/p>\n It is hot as hell in Bangkok in April so we spent most of the time in the apartment, but there were many interesting things to do in the apartment. Every evening we would prepare already known Thai specialties. The best thing was the happy <\/em>green curry \u2013 we were all somehow thrilled after we ate it. I believe it was because of a special ingredient which was quite usual in Jordan\u2019s apartment \u2013 an awfully strange green-coloured butter. I\u2019d been told you couldn\u2019t get one of those in the supermarkets.<\/p>\n I even celebrated my birthday in Jordan\u2019s apartment. It was a day like any other. Chloe gave mu a ukulele as a gift, a happy birthday card from my parents and relatives over Skype, and that was it. The birthdays are way overrated. I care much less about them since I\u2019ve read The Mutant Message from Down Under, <\/em>a book from which I learnt a lot. Basically, the novel deals with an Aborigine tribe whose members live in the middle of a desert and who don\u2019t see any point in celebrating birthdays \u2013 they only celebrate the days when they feel they\u2019ve become a better person. Well, that did make sense. You should read the book \u2013 it\u2019s totally worth it.<\/p>\n![\"103\"](\"https:\/\/tomislavperko.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/103-960x540.jpg\")
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