You know how it is, you see a cute little puppy on the beach one day, decide to pick it up and stick it in between you and your boyfriend on the scooter.
9 years, and 4 countries later, you’re stuck with the big lump. Here he is...
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He’s a pitbull, so is classed as a dangerous dog in most countries. I can see why though, he’s got a vicious lick. Could take your eyelash off! Every time we move onto the next 'Happy Place', I Google, Google, Google how to get our precious cargo from point A to point B and never find anything helpful. I wrote this to help out anyone who would like to travel with their dog, it's not easy, but they're worth it...
CHIANG MAI to SIHANOUKVILLE
Chiang Mai to Bangkok
We figured the cheapest and most direct route would be the train for this part of the journey. We booked 2nd class sleeper tickets for 800 baht each ($25), and a dog ticket, for 200 baht ($6.50), bargain! Oh, I forgot to tell you, we had a cat with us too. Fergie strutted into our lives 4 years previously on Koh Phangan. As the pooch decided he was her very own personal pillow, she joined the pack...they didn’t charge for the cat ($0).
Our travel companion and personal priest Father Daz was also part of the group tour. We decided to jump into the next Cambodian chapter together, as Daz was the cat’s surrogate father for a short time…until she took up the hobby of pissing on his bed daily. I love cats. We took our seats on the train. I read online that dogs have to be in a cage, so we bought one. Nobody said anything so I kept him next to me on my seat, ears flapping in my face, saliva dripping on my lap, nice!
There’s a special atmosphere on trains in Asia, the whole carriage is alive. It’s a sort of organised chaos; people hanging off the stairs in between carriages smoking, women selling chopped jackfruit, wasabi nuts and small cans of Singha for a quid. If Carlsberg did trains…
We were all cosy in our bunk beds by 9pm, legs dangling, nightcaps in hand. After an uncomfortable night's sleep (my dog is 27kg and likes to stretch out), the train began to come alive around 6:30am, as the sun rose. We got up, made our beds and turned them back into seats. Rice paddies quickly turned into concrete walls, fresh air quickly turned into the smell of fishballs and petrol. We pulled into Bangers at 8am. 3 backpacks, 3 hand luggage, one dog cage, a quilt, one guitar, 3 laptops, 3 humans, 1 dog and 1 cat in a box. Hello Bangkok.
Bangkok to Koh Kong
We had no spare hands, so had to tie the pooch to my hubby’s belt. Weaving between commuters, soi dogs and and beggars, arms full and backs sweating, we headed towards the nearest bit of grass. Poor pooch peed his leg off, he didn’t even cock his leg, he just looked up at me with embarrassed eyes, 'sorry’. 'Well done for not peeing on the train big lad'.
This was the most researched part of the journey, and finding very little answers, and not many services that would take animals, we finally found Orient Escape, website below. They were the most beautiful people, and did everything to accommodate us in our hour of need, thank you!!
http://www.orientalescape.com/thailand/transfer/bangkok.html
The 11-seater air-con bus was pure luxury. TVs, sound system, free water and a nice cool floor for the poochie to stretch out on. It cost 6500 baht ($200), expensive I know, but I felt for a 6 hour journey and amazing service it was worth it. We were in Koh Kong for 2pm, through immigration for 3pm and in the hotel for 3:30pm. I had all the proper documents for the pets, I had vaccination records and passports, but they genuinely couldn’t have cared less, especially as street dogs were wandering freely over the border anyway.
We checked into the pet-friendly Thaan Tay Guesthouse, Koh Kong. I doubt they get many sights like us, dragging ourselves, bags and animals into the hotel reception, checking into the family room. When they say ‘family’ they probably didn’t mean 3 smelly backpackers, a pitbull and a box with a cat in it, but they laughed anyway and showed us to our room, $25 one night, bargain!
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Koh Kong to Sihanoukville
The cheery Khmer guy who dropped us off the night before, promised to return at 8am the following morning and take us to Sihanoukville in his bright yellow minibus, for the bargain price of $90. A 5-hour journey, so we thought that was fair.
Not quite the luxury we had become accustomed to on our journey from Bangkok, the delightful yellow bus, driven by our ever-smiling chauffeur bumped and thumped along the dirt roads, cat, dog and our heeds hitting the roof with every jerk. We were about 2 hours in when the pussy wagon broke down. Within seconds of the air-con dying, the sweaty heat started to creep in. We’d passed only 4 other vehicles on the road so far, and I started to panic a little. The pooch’s tongue hung from his mouth, panting. Uh oh!
By some miracle, at the mercy of the God of Sweaty Backpackers, a bus exactly like ours drove towards us in the opposite direction. Our smiling but now heavily perspiring driver flagged him down and took a piece of black rubber from him. He then played around under the bonnet again and brrrrrrruuummm, the engine started up. The magician had fixed it! Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more...
Sihanoukville greeted us with blue skies, cheap beer and happy people. We checked into Coolabah Hotel, one of the best in Sihanoukville. We chose it because it had a family room and allowed pets. A little pricey at $40 per night, but the pool and wicked restaurant made up for it, spring rolls and an Angkor anyone? Again, the faces of the staff as we dragged our lives and pets through the restaurant, bumping tables as we went, turned quickly from horror to humor, brilliant staff! Thank you!
So that’s it! Easy peasey eh? 36 hours of travel, 15,000 baht in transport, accommodation and food for 3 people ($450). I wish you lots of smiles, cuddles and new chapters with your furry travelling buddy. My story wouldn’t have been the same without mine.
All hail the beautiful beach dog, who is happy to be your mate for 1 hour, 2 days, 3 months, or the rest of his life…
Please ask if you have any questions about travelling with your 4-legged friends. We're in Europe now, but that's another post. If you'd like more general information on travelling and find YOUR Happy Place, please check out the link below. Happy travels animal lovers!