Thailand....Adventure And Gaining Wisdom, Part 2

    In the first Thailand Blog I had just got help from an old Thai guy and his wife to swipe the red bull ants off of my body; once I put my shirt and shorts back on it appeared to me that they had enjoyed the entertainment. I left my new friends and went back to the guest house to shower; my companion and I then rented a scooter for the day (160 Baht).

   We traveled a lot of kms on the scooter; first riding up into the mountains as far as the palace where the King stays when he is on holiday; there was a touristy temple close by and the scenery was nice.


                                        


                                       




 On the way back down the mountain we pulled into a National Park and figured we would venture the 1.9 km posted distance to a waterfall. We rode about an hour; going through creeks, and up steep hills until we got to a small village; that is where we turned back; we never did see the waterfall. Once in Chiang Mai proper we toured to see more of the 300 temples that exist in the city.

   The Chiang Mai locals were very friendly and although I do not get too specific in my blogs on the people I meet I have to mention Pradid and Amara who own a small store down the road from the Golden Riverside Guest House.

                         

 I went there a few times to purchase something and ended up to hang around a bit talking (well trying to talk). Although there was a language barrier we had fun together and I loved being there when their two children got home from school. So on the next 2 visits to Thailand I visited this local family and I am happy to say that I am very good friends with the 4 of them to this day.

                           

   Many facts went in my journal, such as the union workers threatening a strike because they wanted a raise from 78 Baht per day to 95 Baht per day ($3.00 US- $3.60 US). It was no wonder the Japanese companies were building the Mitsubishi automobile in Thailand. We got tired of seeing the old and rather ugly guys with the young Thai girls (prostitutes). Unlike some countries where the prostitutes are old enough to make a conscious decision to sell their body (whether that is good or bad), in Thailand (and other Asian countries) girls are often recruited from the countryside with promise to their parents that they have a job in the city at a company.

  After taking the scooter back and packing up we headed to the train station to catch the 8:45pm train to Bangkok. In typical Asian style the train left at 10:10 pm instead of the scheduled time. The seats were broken, grungy and very uncomfortable but the trip was only one night so I figured we would survive. Between the two train trips and the opposite arrival times (leaving in the dark, arriving in the day) we managed to see all of the area between Chiang Mai and Bangkok. There were so many farmers living a life in poverty.....many small shacks were home for them.

                                   


                            


   When we arrived in Bangkok it was a scorcher (about 40 degrees) and we loaded a taxi to a different area to settle down in; we found a nice place. The next day we tentatively booked flights through Quanta's for Australia at a cost of 16,600 Baht each (about $550 US) for a Friday flight. On the next day we were tired because the guy next door had his music cranked at 1am; then it was hard to get back to sleep with the heat We went to the Australian Embassy in the morning and thought that a visa would be quick and easy....not so. The Thai lady at the Embassy said that we did not have a sufficient amount of money; I told her we would be staying at my friends and that we had ample travelers checks....she did not agree.

   We left the Embassy very angry, almost ready to just go home. The next destination was the post office for International calls. My first call was to my dad (180 Baht for 3 min.), the line was not clear and I thought perhaps he could not understand me, I tried again but could not get through. I then called a friend in BC and he had gone to Ontario. For 5 hours I tried to get through to people in Canada via the phone, it was just not working.

                          

We had to eat so we hit the streets; in a bad mood from the heat, pollution, and 2 nights with little sleep to search for a restaurant. Out of the few options, we picked a Saudi type place to eat and thought fried rice with chicken would be safe; it was gross. There was a dominating spice, more bones than chicken and many internal stomach parts; we couldn't even eat just half.

   We stayed around Bangkok for 2 more days awaiting a Telex and spent 890 Baht to find out in the end that it was never going to come; talking to people at the bank about transfers was not working and it seemed that our options were quickly dwindling. The only thing good about Bangkok, besides some nice temples was our room on the 3rd floor of the guest house. The balcony provided views of the street action outside, there was a lot of entertainment with crazy chaos. Across the street was some Thai reality ( construction workers accommodation) where the workers stayed in little tin sheds. It was looking like we were down to 3 options : gamble on flying to Australia and getting a visa at the airport there, go down south to the beach and try to get as far as Malaysia, or go on a shopping spree and get home early to see our dogs.

   My companion decided that she wanted to take option #3 so we focused on that. In the morning we loaded a crowded bus and headed down to the Pratunam area which is supposed to be the largest outdoor market area in Bangkok. That first shopping day was 6 or 7 hours long and there was a lot of hustle and bustle....kind of a crazy world but a lot of bargains. On day 2 of shopping I went to a bridge to take a photo, the stench of the water was overwhelming. There were stairs leading down under the bridge so I went down to get a different angle for a photo. There was a make shift shack under the bridge, first I thought it was a restaurant but it soon became evident that someone was living there. Very quickly two dogs emerged out from behind the structure and charged me. With my eyes bulging I kept them at bay with my pack as I walked backwards, there was a stick that I could grab and I swung it as I retreated back up the stairs; they really scared me.

   The first trip to Thailand really was a learning experience. After the initial plan did not work for us then the twists of fate that followed pretty much influenced our destiny. I think we gave up easily cutting our holiday to a short 41 days. There is always the could have, should have; like we should have went south to some islands. Little did I know at that time that I would return to Thailand and prove that some wisdom was gained on this trip.