Time to get back into the real world and be an adult again. I've got washing to do. Gone are the days when I can spend $28 and get someone to fluff and fold my clothes. Today it is down to me. You buy powder from the hostel at $0.25, the washing machine costs $1.25, whilst the dryer costs $1.00. After washing I had my diary to do and catch up on my reading by the hostels pool and on the lake front. Life really sucks.
I got really annoyed with my hair, so I got a hair cut too. I'm not sure I like what she did, but she did wash and cut it, which was nice. She charged me $20 which wasn't.
Anyway now it is time to venture back into the real US again. After 6 nights in Kissimmee feeling very secure, I hope I haven't let down my guard for the rigours of another overnighter on the Greyhound. Firstly I had to navigate my way down to the terminal in downtown Kissimmee using the over complicated and indirect public bus service, mainly because I didn't fancy another 3 hour hike.
I met another Korean from the hostel. We had a chat and he too was heading to the Greyhound Terminal. It's a bit of a lottery as to when you get off the bus as everywhere looks the same, but I did finally recognise something and signalled to the Korean it was time to get off.
He followed me to Kissimmee Greyhound Terminal , showed his ticket to the guy and the bloke wanted charge him an extra $9.00. It turned out that the Korean was catching his bus from Orlando and should have stayed on the public bus. It's not my fault, he nodded and smiled when I said Kissimmee.
Whilst the Korean exited I hung around to catch my Greyhound to Homestead (on the edge of the Everglades), first stop Orlando, where I had to change to the Miami bus. I surveyed the terminal and was relieved to see the Korean queuing for his bus to Atlanta. I kept a low profile as I'd cost him an extra $1.25 and I didn't want him to spot me. I'm so brave!
My next hurdle was making it into the terminal. I was subjected to a bag search where the security guard confiscated my 1 inch bladed penknife. It could be deemed a lethal weapon. It could scratch you and you could die from the infection. To be honest I knew I shouldn't have had it in my hand baggage and I'd been meaning to pack it in my rucksack for ages.
The stupid and annoying thing was about 5 minutes after I'd gone through a group of nice ladies had followed and the guards had abandoned their posts in pursuit of a date, letting all manner of herberts enter without a search. Orlando is also the only place I've been searched, although not on the first occassion I was here. The terrorists must be after Mickey.
The over officious twerps weren't done yet. Not only were they not happy at subjecting us to their awful humour, they then insisted in putting on a show of their power and might, by cuffing some poor guy and dragging him off for a debriefing. I think they were showing off for the ladies. This bloke had a 2 hour wait for his connecting bus so had been outside and bought a beer. He knew it was wrong and handed it over freely when the guards approached him.
The guards then persisted in harrassing him and threatening to offload him from his bus. After about 30 minutes of grief the bloke obviously said something wrong and so started his humiliation. American Sercurity Guards, Policemen and Customs People have a serious flaw in their personalities. In fact it is missing in most cases.
Excitement and my own 2.5 hour wait over, I caught the 21.30 bus to Miami. It was packed with the normal inconsiderate people. I really hated this trip. The woman across the aisle from me had her discman on full blast and insisted on singing and whistling. I could hear her over my own discman (essential for Greyhound travel). There was persistant talking on the bus and mobiles ringing. Everyone was Spanish too.
We also had the oldest and most uncomfortable bus, the bumpiest roads and the worst driver in the world. He's failed to master the art of slowing for corners, braking early before stopping and releasing and reapplying the brake before you stop to prevent that awful jolting.
To top it all I was sat next to a rather large lady. On our 2 seater I took up about a quarter of the space and whenever I moved she already had some part of her flesh there. It's been a long time since I've been that intimate with anyone. Oh yeah and she snored louder than my Dad, that's pretty loud.
I'm not doing a very good job at advertising Greyhound here, but when I arrived in Miami at 4.00 am I was knackered and still not at my destination.
