Southward Bound

After returning to Bangkok, we had the rest of the day to ourselves until 6pm. After I took a much needed shower, the Kindergarten teacher and I decided to take a trip to MBK. 200 Baht and 15 minutes later we realized that MBK wasn't very far at all and wish we had known before we wildly overpaid for our cab. MBK had 7 floors and tourists from all over the world. There was an incredible mixture of internationally known superchains and individually owned boutiques. There were stores where haggling wasn't allowed and ones where it was expected. You could find prices ranging from dirt cheap to high end. It had everything. After a long first week in Thailand with more noodles and rice than I'd ever had in my life, we treated ourselves to a massive lunch at The Pizza Company. I felt full for the next 24 hours. We made it to floor 5 before we ran out of steam and decided to head back. It had become later afternoon around this time, around 3pm or so. The crowds started pouring in.

I had never seen such madness in my life. We had to wait in line to funnel on to the escalators. There was a sea of people in front of the mall waiting for rides, taxis, or buses. We asked several of the taxi drivers if they would take us back for the same price it took to get there and they just drove off. Apparently at this time of day there was a premium on taxi rides. The Kindergarten teacher spend several minutes bravely darting out into traffic to flag down taxis before we found one that would take us for a reasonable price.

After returning we had a few hours to relax (nap) until we had our new group meeting at 6pm. I went to check the internet and found a lovely advertisement outside the coffee shop I was at. Not what I expected to see in the middle of July in Thailand. Although, really, why would I have any expectations for Bangkok in July? Maybe this is normal.

That evening there was a royal snafu trying to get everyone in the right group. There were six 15 person groups meeting at the same time for the same tour agency. I think maybe they need to plan this better. The restaurant and lobby were packed with confused and disoriented young people from around the world. Luckily, I already knew who my tour guide was so I just hung around him until everything was sorted out.

Our new group was significantly different from the old one. Other than the Kindergarten teacher and I, we had 3 people from Australia, a couple from Denmark, and 7 people from the UK. As far as I could tell, everyone was under 28, most of them closer to 19 or 20. We also had one girl who didn't show up. Everyone was very nice though and things went smoothly. Despite the fact that it was threatening rain, Kitti was pressured by the group, especially the Kindergarten teacher, to take us somewhere that was not the hotel restaurant. He was hesitant but since it wasn't raining yet, he gave in and took us to Chinatown. About 5 minutes into our walk, it was pouring. Kitti was a not a happy camper. We had to stand parked on a sidewalk for 20 minutes so that we didn't have to step out into the torrential downpour. When it finally let up, we got to the restaurant and found it too packed to fit us all in there. So we started back. It didn't take long before Kitti began to worry that he was getting sick from being in the rain. Have I mentioned that Thai people hate rain? We went to a restaurant near the hotel, but most people just got a few beers. Afterward, we stopped by a Roti stand so that the newcomers could experience the wonder of the banana and chocolate crepe.

We went to bed early that night, in the morning we would be taking a plane down to the islands.