Vagabonding : 2006 April |

Always an adventure

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My hands were shaking as I tore through my bags searching…..
One final look confirmed my fear, I had arrived in Bangkok airport minus one travel journal. I would rather have lost my entire backpack instead of this journal which contained all my new friends’ contact info, my thoughts, experiences, and every adventure from my trip.

Immediately my brain went into disaster recovery mode…which it has done often on this trip. I glanced at my watch, the time was 22:00. My flight was not until 01:30am so I had some time. I decided that it was a long shot, but I would ring Suk11, the hostel where I had spent the previous night and see if they had maybe found it. First, I had to get the number. Phone books are out of the question in Thailand, so I glanced around the room until I spotted a Chinese man using his laptop. I approached him and tried what little Mandarin I know.
“Ni hau ma?”

He looked up from his work.

I asked, ” Ni shau Yingwen ma?”

He replied “Bu Shr” which meant no, he did not speak English. Oh well, it was back to charades, which I have become an expert at over the past few months. I pointed to his laptop and gave him a wai gesture with my palms together. He turned it around for me. A couple minutes later after switching Windows from Mandarin to English, I had the URL and phone number for Suk11.

I found a payphone and rang the hostel. After a few moments, the woman came back with incredible news….yes, they had found my missing journal in my room! I ran outside, grabbed a cab (actually in Bangkok, you do not hail cabs…they hail you.) and opened the door. I asked the guy how much to Sukhumvitt road soi 11, he asked me “What do you want to pay?”. I low-balled him and said 300 Baht, expecting the painful negotiating to begin. It was at least a 45 minute drive and there were quite a few toll booths along the way. He simply shrugged his shoulders and said “OK”. My mouth dropped open and I wondered what alternate universe I had stepped out of the airport exit doors into….a taxi driver that didnt want to haggle? WTF?

I hopped in and he finished his Redbull he was sipping and off we went at about 120KMH. He was cutting corners, buzzing pedestrians, and holding his horn. It was the wildest taxi ride I have been on in 3 months. Even the tuk-tuk drivers, which are crazy bastards themselves, were scurrying to get out of this madman’s way. I was starting to think that he was strong with the force until I glanced down and saw the half dozen empty Redbull bottles clanking around in the floorboard. He was high as a kite on Thai Redbull, which comes in little glass bottles and is illegal in the US for whatever FDA inspired reason. He got me back to Suk11 in about 40 minutes, double parked, and I ran inside to collect my journal. I was back outside in less than 2 minutes and we were off again to the airport, at an insane pace. The guy even got pulled over for a 50Baht ticket, which he paid the officer in cash on the spot. He said he got one every day so it did not matter. We arrived back at the airport just before midnight and I tipped him an extra 100 Baht for his ticket and the trouble…he deserved it.

After getting through passport control and giving up the 500 Baht airport fee, I was half asleep at my gate with time to spare. 23 hours of flying later and I was hugging my parents in the Orlando, Florida airport back in the US. I cannot put into words how strange it feels to be home already. I am very happy to see family, but damn I miss traveling and being with people from other countries already…people that I can relate to and connect with.

I will continue my blog probably for a few days as I readjust to being at home, it may interest other travelers that are facing similar fates in the near future. Plus, I am not “home” yet…I am in Orlando. Home of Mickey Mouse and the vortex of corporate American packaged touristy hell. I’m sure I will find something to write about while I am here.
Busy Siam Square with Skytrain

Posted in Thailand | Tags: airport, bangkok, suk11

One final stop

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I jumped out of bed and packed quickly this morning. The insects had taken their toll…I received more bites here on Ko Chang in the last 2 nights than my entire trip combined. The culprit - bed bugs. Woohoo! They got my face, hands, back…it looks like I have measles now. It did not even phase me - I went about my business this morning with a smile because:

Im going home.

I have known for months that this day was coming but I never expected it so quickly. I am leaving here with literally some of the happiest and saddest moments of my life. I told my Swedish friend Elin a quick goodbye on the street, I suppose my last backpacker goodbye in SE Asia. The slow ferry ride boredom was broken up by me meeting a nice group of Thais that sat with me, and in a little over an hour we had swapped emails with promises of places to stay in NE Thailand and Kentucky. I felt a twinge when the bus topped the hill and the Bangkok skyline came into view. I was not so happy about being back in Bangkok, but I managed to book Suk11, the famous backpacker’s hostel in the Sukhumvit area and I love it! Its a great place, very cozy, and the location is superb. I am actually wishing I had an extra day or two here, I think maybe I could forgive Bangkok for Khao San Road and actually enjoy this part of the city.
For dinner, I splurged and ate at a nice Indian place near Suk11. I asked for my curry Indian hot and it barely made me sweat. My stomach has become indestructible, a bonus from this trip.

Tomorrow, I will head over to MBK in Siam Square and pick up some souveys for people back at home. I am looking forward to the shopping and haggling actually…then somehow I will manage to cram even more into my bloated backpack and then if it does not burst at the seams, I will put it and myself on a flight home at 01:30am Sunday morning. I love late flights…lounging around the airport reading beats the hell out of getting up early any day.

I have not posted any pics in a long time because internet access was such crap in Cambodia. I will fix up both my blog and post the other 200 pics I have once I get home from Florida. Florida….this is an interesting prospect. I am going from 4 months of avoiding tourists to the 9th level of tourist hell at Disney World - not to mention the extreme and addictive freedom of backpacking to sharing a large condo with my full family which means not dragging home at sunrise with an empty bucket on my head and covered with sand. Its only 1 week and I love them to death, so I think that I will manage.

Posted in Thailand | Tags: bangkok, bus, ko chang, sukhumvit

Last dive

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I tried to put the events of the past couple days behind me, so I booked a final scuba dive as planned.

Unfortunately, it was a lot like my last dive in Ko Phi Phi. A party all night until about 4 hours before dive time, and then when I got up, it was raining. There is nothing like being on a dive boat on rough seas, bouncing up and down, everyone green from being seasick, with no sleep. I usually dont get sick, but when I have to look away from the horizon to prepare my scuba equipment, I can feel it start to sneak up on me.

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Posted in Thailand | Tags: ko chang, scuba