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Published: February 25th 2011
Well its been a few days between blogs but I've finally put some time aside before I forget everything that has happened! In the last blog we were leaving Ko Lanta and heading to Bangkok for a few days....
There were no dramas getting back to the airport (after the 5 hour bus saga getting to Koh Lanta) as Annie our Guesthouse owner arranged a ride for cheap with her driver.. He had to head to the airport for a private transfer so we got a ride.. worked out well and was much less stressful. We were both sad to leave Banana Garden Home Bungalows... they (and Annie) were fantastic.. After the drama surrounding our missed transfer, Annie upgraded us to the bigger bungalow for the original price and it was perfect. I will definitely have Koh Lanta on the list for the next trip!
We arrived in Bangkok drama free and caught a taxi to the hotel. Upon entering our room, it reeked of cigarettes but after a quick trip to reception they moved us no problems which was great. We stayed at Lamphu House and it was okay value for the 950 baht per night we were
paying. After dumping our bags we went out for a walk and to get some food. I took McKay to my little duck noodle soup vendor that is hidden down a side alley close to the hotel... soooo good and soooo cheap! I dropped in to see Tongs husband and say hi before heading down Khao San Rd for a look and then a massage...
We chose a place in Soi Rambuttri and they were insistent we do an oil massage 'upstairs upstairs'.. When we got up there they basically had us strip naked (except undies) in front of each other in this massive open room.. I was stressing the whole time someone else would walk in... and one of the ladies was hilarious saying 'beautiful ladies' .. she was a cracker and we couldnt stop giggling at her the whole massage...
After we finished our massages the ladies walked out so we could get dressed... McKay turns to me and goes "Is it just me or do we smell like Pad Thai" ... She then sticks her arm in my face for a smell and sure enough... her massage lady had used some kind of oil that
smelt like cooking oil... Hilarious.. I was lucky, I had a nice jasmine smelling oil!
We decided to head to Suan Lum Night Bazaar so grabbed a tuktuk and negotiated an excessive price of 200 baht to take us there.... When we arrived however it was a demolition site! The tuktuk driver gets out and says 'Suan Lum BOOOM! Big bomb' ... I was completely speechless, had I missed something? Last time I checked it was still operating but it was a boarded up site and the 'once big stage' was now a shell... the place has apparently just been blown up!
Angry that the tuktuk driver wasted our time, we asked him to drop us to MBK shopping centre, which was about 5-10 min away. When we got to MBK I went to hand him 200 baht and the conversations goes a little something like this:
TTD: 300 baht
ME: Ummm no 200 baht was what we agreed
TTD: 300 baht (yelling)
ME: Paeng Bai (too expensive)
TTD: 200 baht to Suan Lum, 100 baht here
ME: ummm no we didnt agree to that
TTD: you give me 300 baht
ME: no 200 baht
TTD: fine
I take you to Suan Lum
ME: fine 220 baht
TTD: 300 baht, you pay
ME: no you have 200 baht or nothing
TTD: fine you want 200 baht ride I take you to Suan Lum
At this point he starts driving off
ME: stop the tuktuk NOW (getting angry)
TTD: ignores me and keeps driving
ME: Yuut NOW (stop now)
TTD: ignores me and keeps driving
At this point we are getting angry as well as a bit antsy.. wondering WTF he thinks he is doing! He proceeds to drive us all the way back to Suan Lum Night Bazaar (ie: abandoned lot) and the whole time I am yelling YUUT and McKay is laughing... We thought about jumping out at a couple of traffic lights but were scared he might just try drive as we did and we might get injured so we just sat there.. I remember yelling at him to take us to the police station!
At Suam Lum, he pulls over and says "there you want 200 baht ride, you want Suan Lum" - We couldnt believe it, I threw the 200 baht at him and we jumped out.. leaving all
our beer bottles and rubbish in the back of the tuktuk... As we walked off, he noticed the rubbish, got out of the tuktuk and was yelling at us in Thai... worried he was going to pelt us in the head with the beer bottles we started running at a fast pace back down the road towards the police station!
When we got to the police station I decided to go tell them.. but they all just sat there with blank stares on their faces and said something like 'yes dont take tuktuk.. tuktuks bad' - wow thanks! Like I didnt work that one out!! Defeated we hailed a meter taxi and headed back to our hotel.... it only cost 75 baht so we came out on top in the end!!
Once back at Soi Rambuttri we headed over to Phra Athit Rd nearby - home of some trendy arty bars/restaurants where the locals hang.. We found a little restaurant called Apple which was packed to the hilt of young hip Thais and had a small live band... we sat outside on the footpath (with McKays stool actually in the gutter!) and ordered up a multitude of dishes..
everything that came out was yummy, so yummy in fact that it was the scene of lunch again the following day and dinner on my last night! Cool little place! After dinner we called it a night after some quick shopping as we had a big day planned the next day (McKays last day).
Day with Tong - Baby Orphanage and Sleazy Old Thai Men
In the morning we went to New Siam Guesthouse (where I usually stay) to have their banana pancakes then headed along Phra Athit Rd to do some window shopping and have lunch at Roti Mataba... unfortunately it was shut (McKay was not happy as she was dying to try it out) so we went back to Apple for more good food and free wifi! Once we finished we caught a taxi to meet Tong and headed out to an Orphanage that she supports. I was originally going to take some diapers etc (it is a baby orphanage) but we hadnt had time so we ended up just donating some money. It was a really sad place to go and see all the abandoned babies. Tong explained that they have to do everything they
can to find the Mum and Grandparents and only if both reject the baby can it be adopted. She also said it is virtually impossible for foreigners to adopt as the Thai Govt obviously prefers the babies to go to Thai Families...
It was a sad place seeing so many babies (hundreds) in need of a loving home... We got to cuddle a few of the babies aged 4-8 months and then play with some 2 year olds.. they are so starved of attention that they would cling to you and not let go... Afterwards we went to another Orphanage where all the disabled babies and kids live and gave them some money too... Once that was done, Tong took us to Mon Restaurant in the Dusit Area.. this is where she took Narelle, Jakki and I on our last trip... a local family restaurant with no English menu! We had beers and over 11 dishes between us and it cost about 900 baht ($30) - great value and we were STUFFED afterwards... it was really funny while we were eating as when we first arri ved a man at the next table started flirting with Tong and insisting
on her phone number.. He was really drunk and gross and a little scary.. He jumped into one of our photos and then moved to an outside table where he proceeded to sit there and stare at Tong the whole hour we were eating.. and I mean really stare!! Not just every now and then!!! He was so gross!!
After our feed Tong dropped us back to our hotel and from there we decided to do some shopping and have drinks... On our way to Khao San Rd, we ran into our angry little kidnapping tuktuk driver who started laughing when he saw us and shook McKays hand.. We assume that was his way of saying 'No hard feelings' - Jeckyl and Hyde!
We found the 'corn in a cup' street vendor in our travels and so I made McKay eat some.. just as she paid for it and we turned around right next to her was my ultimate favourite vendor... Coconut Icecream!!!!!!! Even though I wasnt hungry I wasnt knocking that one back.. and McKay ended up juggling corn and icecream!!
We sat down at a local bar in Khao San Rd and had some beers
to wash down the corn and icecream and eventually got chatting to some German guys that had just spent a few weeks on Ko Phangan... we then decided to head to Gullivers for the good old 'one last drink' - yeah like that always happens! We met up with some Aussie guys from Sydney so spent the night drinking and dancing with them. At one stage during the night, McKay points at a really tanned English guy and says to me "Is that an Australian Aboriginal?!" I completely lost it... and she was like "No seriously that is what I imagine them to look like" ... I went over to chat to him to find he was English!
I lost McKay as we stumbled out of Gullivers around 2.30am and found her asleep in bed 15 minutes later.. I promptly passed out to wake up and find her gone! She had decided not to wake my snoring ass when she left! How bad did I feel! LOL BYE MCKAY LOVE AND MISS YOU ALREADY XXXXX
My Last Day with New Friends
I passed back out before deciding to go downstairs around lunchtime for some food but
upon smelling it had to race back to the room! So sick!!! Mid afternoon I was finally human enough to catch up with Dee and Bruce from Canada who had just arrived in Bangkok and we went to my duck noodle soup vendor for a cheap lunch... Afterwards I had a foot massage and back/neck massage before heading back to the hotel to get ready for a night out...
At about 7pm Mick (the guy I met in Melbourne Airport) arrived back in Bangkok from Koh Samui.. We had kept in contact and decided to share the room since McKay had left and I had a massive 2 double beds to myself! We headed out for dinner to Apple again with Dee and Bruce. On the way there, we ran into the coconut icecream vendor so Dee and I had an 'entree' of coconut icecream... Once at Apple, Mick was boring and stuck to a chicken Pad Thai but I ordered up a variety of dishes for the more game in the gang. We then negotiated a tuktuk to take us to a sex show (all three of them were virgins to the whole Bangkok sex show... me, I'm
just a veteran!)
We ended up at the same show I was at in July with Narelle and Jakki and after an hour or so (and having seen all the acts) we grabbed a tuktuk back to Khao San Rd. As we wandered down Khao San Rd we bought some Durian for eveyone to try... It was awful... the last lot I tried was much nicer... Bruce was the only one to keep it down! We had drinks and sheesa at one of the local pubs before Dee and Bruce called it a night.. They had been on the go for over 24 hours and Bruce was looking a little worse for wear!
Mick and I then met up with some other Aussie boys from Melbourne that he had met at the airport earlier that day and I called it a night about 1am... I had a 3am taxi to get ready for! I stumbled half drunk into the taxi and promptly passed out.. The taxi driver woke me at the airport... I got through check in and headed to the departure lounge... I was starving but didnt really have time to get any food.. Once at the
departure lounge I lay down and again passed out... I had some kind travellers wake me up when almost everyone else had boarded the plane! Close call!!!!
When I got on the plane some man was sitting in my seat at the window... I told him that was my seat and he just nodded continuing to sit there and pointing at the seat next to him... I was like 'um no that is my seat' pointing at where he was sitting... It took me a couple of minutes to get him to move and rather than sit in his Aisle seat where he was meant to, he decided to sit RIGHT next to me... It made for a very awkward and uncomfortable 4.5 hour flight!
Anyway that brings me up to Bali, so I will love you and leave you.. its a little rushed and not very exciting but I'm so far behind that I have probably forgotten all the funny bits!
See you in the Bali blog! xxx
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Dee
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Good times in Bangkok!! Thanks for showing us the ropes Reet....it helped a ton....great start to our adventure!!