Last Day in Bangkok

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The morning after the marathon, I hobbled around Bangkok for more sightseeing. After breakfast, I headed out for a nearby temple, after yet another wrong turn, which led me through an fascinating market (full of various things, including tubs full of little wiggly things worthy of Fear Factor), through some backyards and after some directions from a kind soul who spoke English, I burst forth into a completely different temple, which was quite nice, and actually probably looked very similar to the original goal. Actually, getting lost as often as I do provides for some of the best experiences and sights, and heck, there's no better way for getting off the beaten tourist track.

As I made my way to my last know location, two young women saw me looking at a map and promptly offered assistance. Their English was very good, but they were talking fast enough to lose me. Eventually, they gave me a list of wats to see and informed me that it was a holiday and tuk-tuks (motorized three-wheeled taxis - these things are everywhere in Thailand) were only 40 Baht (about $1) for a day. With the "scam alarm" going off quite loudly in the back of my head, I headed off for a skeptical ride. At my first destination I made sure to confirm the price with the driver. I found out later there was a government and business sponsored tourist promotion, in which the driver took me to wherever I wanted to go, and also two business selling stuff. At the businesses I walked around, made polite noises about the items for sale, and scamperd out, whereupon the driver got a petrol voucher. So, I got to see various sights of the city for cheap, and eventually was let off near my hotel.

However, I was unaware of how big this promotion was, it could have been national "grab a farang and try to help see the sights of the city" day. Everybody offering assistance was very polite and was not trying to sell me anything, but every time I was caught peeking at a map, a Thai would help me out and tell me which wats to go to (regardless of whether I had already seen them or not) and where to buy a train ticket (I already knew, and in fact, had been told by several people). All in all, they were quite nice and fun to talk to, but I found myself sneaking peaks at my map, and walking like I knew where I was going (even if I didn't) just to avoid the assistance.

Eventually I made it to where my bag was and took a taxi to the train station. The driver was nice enough to take the scenic route on the busiest streets. I may need to go to an economist for this one, but oddly enough, the tuk-tuk driver being paid a flat rate, made it across the city in about 1/3 of the time of the taxi driver paid by kilometer and time. However, I made it to the train station, just in time to catch the next train to Ayuthaya.

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