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It's 7 p.m. on June 27th, 2018.

Rick Stanton sits in a Toyota minibus outside my side village in Thailand, watching the lush jungle and misty hills roll by.

It's been five days since 12 boys and their teacher went missing inside the Tom and Wong cave and still no one knows where they are.

Which is why he and his diving partner, John Phalanth, are here, along with the coordinator for the British Cave Rescue Council, Rob Harper.

They're exhausted. The flight to Bangkok was 11 hours and then another flight to Changri and now an hour on a rickety bus.

As they sneak up the mountain, Rick stairs out the window. He can't believe the long line of cars. It's as far as the eye can see.

Rick leans forward and asks the driver, how many people are actually up there? The driver looks back to him proudly.

Thousands of people from all over Thailand have volunteered to rescue our boys. It's incredible. It is actually incredible.

But it's also causing an unforeseen side effect. Ridlock. Rick turns to John. You said it was going to be a big operation, but I never imagined this.

The van stops at the bottom of the hill. The driver jumps out and opens the back door. We can't go any farther. Rick looks at John, who shrugs.

Wait, listen, just one more thing. Can I get a picture? In a flash, the driver unfurls a large printed banner in front of the men that reads, world's best cave divers.

Rick should feel flattered, but instead, he feels vaguely embarrassed. I, we don't normally do that. He's surprised when the driver grabs a quick selfie anyway.

As the driver gets back to the bus, Rick asks him, where exactly do we go? A man points vaguely towards a crowd of reporters.

Rick and John pick up their equipment becks and make their way up the hill. They're boots gathering mud as they go. It hasn't stopped raining in days.

A sea of reporters stand behind the media barricade, faces, pressed into their cameras, while across the ocean, newscasters tell the world about the unfolding events.

In Thailand, there is a very concerning situation. Hundreds of searchers on the ground desperately look for 12 young Thai soccer players in their coach, missing now since Saturday.

Rick and John pass through a makeshift rescue headquarters set up near the cave. It looks like a mini city, rescuers, volunteers, locals, all milling about in brightly colored plastic rain ponchos.

There's a swarm of pop-up tents and porta-potties and tons of reporters everywhere. Immediately, a pack surrounds Rick and John. They try to push through the flashing cameras and microphones, but it's tough.

John turns to Rick. This is total chaos. Just then, a man from the crowd calls out to them.

Rick, John, burn on his worth here. I'm the one who gave your number to the Minister of Tourism. Welcome to the unexpected. He glances at the diverse packs. Looks like he's got a lot of gear.

Let's head up to the range of station. It's not too far. You can set up there. Rick is confused, but the boys shouldn't we head to the cave first?

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