22nd – 23rd – The British Connection

One of the reasons I enjoy travelling the way I do is because I manage to avoid the busiest travel periods and travelling outside these usually have a positive effect on price, crowds and stress.  Today, though, was a busy travel day at the airport. It was chaotic and crowded. A plus was that I was bumped to the fast lane in security when they realized I was alone, so that was a plus. 

The plane was completely full and we left on time, but it still took the crew more than two hours to disable the parental lock that had for some reason had been engaged on my monitor. But it was finally done which let me watch The Commuter, Pacific Rim: Uprising, Tomb Raider (2017) and Isle of Dogs.

We arrived on time in Bangkok and a quick walk through immigration later I was out and got picked up and driven to the hotel. Unfortunately, due to the lack of sleep on the flight, I ended up nodding off towards the hotel. The 1-hour nap did feel good, though. Despite arriving at the hotel around 0830 I was able to check in immediately, likely because the guy I am to share the room with had been here since yesterday, but entering the room I found he had already left for the day, giving me some relaxing time on my own.

A shower and short break later I felt like a new person and around 1000 I left to go for a walk and get my bearings. The map in the Lonely Planet book was very not detailed and the offline map in Google Maps likewise so I ended up wandering keeping track of how I got where I was currently located. On the way I was stopped by a tuk-tuk driver who wanted to drive me to the Standing Buddha, Lucky Buddha and the Marble Temple. Apparently, because it’s Buddha day and Government Day today gas is free and the round trip would only cost me 20 baht.

Reluctantly I agreed (I would have preferred walking by my own pace) and he swiftly drove me to the three locations. After the second I was suggested to see a Thai Factory where they made and sell clothes. I was not interested but I was assured I could just have a look and not buy anything. Fair enough, assuming it was a factory in normal sense where you’d get to see them working on cutting, sewing etc. on a larger scale, I was surprised – and a bit disappointed – when realizing that he had taken me to a shop for custom clothing. Surprise! I had a quick look inside, told them I wasn’t surprised (it did seem like good quality, though I wasn’t interested) and returned outside to the tuk-tuk.

The Standing Buddha. Didn't feel so impressive being wrapped up.

Lucky Buddha.

My driver suggested another “factory” which I declined. He was stubborn, though, and I should just have given him the 20 baht and left there and then, but tired from the lack of sleep and wanting to get it over with I finally relented. Surprise – it was the exact same thing.

He finally took me to the Marble Temple, and despite constantly trying to convince me he had nothing to do with the “factories”, the moment I got out of the tuk-tuk he left in a huff. The agreement was that he was supposed to get me back to the hotel which was now out the window. He also left before getting any payment. Shame.

The Marble Temple.

From the temple I started walking back to the hotel by myself. Bangkok is confusing, especially when you have two sets of maps that aren’t very useful, but I manged to return at around 1500 with a quick stop at The Golden Mount.

View from The Golden Mount.

Out hotel room doesn’t have any windows so when I entered the lobby to do a short walk before meeting the rest of the group I was surprised to see it absolutely pouring down. I waited a bit for it to subside, and my walk ended up being a quick trip to the 7-11 around the corner to get some water.

As per usual the group met at 1800 where our guide presented himself and we went around the table to quickly introduce ourselves before going out for dinner 5 minutes’ walk away. If it felt dangerous crossing the streets during daytime it got far more… interesting when it had gotten dark and there were no streetlights.  After dinner some of us when to the hotel bar for a few drinks before going to bed.

View from the bar.

We are 2 Aussies, 2 Americans, 1 Dane and 10 Brits. There are usually a few Brits on these tours but this must be a record so far.