Thai'm is Limited (Day 6)

The next morning was a clear day, and a large part of Bangkok was visible to us from our hotel room. To be honest, we only ended up in Thailand because we had to stop there in order to get to the Maldives from Tokyo. I had proposed we stay in Thailand for a while, but Ingrid was firm on leaving Thailand as soon as possible and that's what we ended up doing. Because we would only be in Thailand for a day, we decided to make the most of it by taking a shuttle to downtown for a look around.



After a brief shuttle ride, we headed out onto the streets of downtown Bangkok. Ingrid wanted to catch a ride on one of these contraptions, a tuk-tuk. I actually never knew what one was until that day but agreed it would be a fun thing to do.



Wait, did I say "fun"? Well what I should've said is "unsafe". Somebody tuk-tuk the seatbelts out of these mini death traps on wheels and never thought to install doors either. To get a sense of what it's like to ride on a tuk-tuk, check out this short video of our ride.



Luckily, the streets of Bangkok are littered with motorcycles, tuk-tuks, and other vehicles that would get obliterated if any car were to hit them, and because there are so many of them, car drivers actually look out for tuk-tuks and motorcycles on the road. This picture is taken at a red light and is a pretty representative breakdown between cars and motorcycles there.



On the way to our first destination, we passed one of the entrances to the home of the King of Thailand. To put it simply, the people of Thailand love the King, and every Monday, many of the citizens wear yellow shirts in honor of the King who was born on Monday. It just so happened we were there on a Monday, and it seemed like almost everyone was wearing yellow.



We eventually made it to our first destination, which was a temple with a giant buddha inside.



Also inside was this monk who appeared to be meditating. I felt a little strange about taking his picture, so I asked him first, and he didn't raise any objection, or even his eyelids.



I wished for a properous and happy life together. So far, so good.



After the temple, Ingrid and I walked to this nearby dock and witnessed something we've never seen before. There were a couple of old men selling what appeared to be dry dog food for 10 baht (about 30 cents). They told us to throw the dog food into the water to feed the fish, which didn't sound too interesting, especially since the water was super murky. As we walked out on the dock, I could tell there were fish beneath the surface, but it wasn't until Ingrid dumped some of the food in the water that it became clear how many fish were actually there. The instant the food hit the water, there was a flurry of activity as hundreds of fish dashed for the kibble, and I'm not talking about tiny goldfish. I'm talking about some decent size fish. It was crazy.



Take a look at this video and you'll see what I mean. Have you ever seen anything like this?!?



After feeding the fish, we decided to feed ourselves. No too far away, along the same shoreline was this restaurant. Despite the name, Ingrid was far from falling in love with the food at this place.



To tell you the truth, I wasn't in love with the food there either, but I was in love with the beer served there.



The view from our table wasn't bad either. As we sat there and ate, I realized as I looked down on the water that the fish we saw earlier weren't just gathered near the dock where we fed them. They were everywhere. Thousands of them. I threw little pieces of chicken into the water as we ate and got the same effect as on the dock.



We had fish and a chicken dish, all of which wasn't great, but we got to chat and relax along the shore. After lunch we headed back to the hotel to get our bags and make our way to the airport.



It didn't take nearly as long as we thought it would to get back to the hotel and grab our things, so instead of heading straight to the airport, we had our driver make a pit stop at this local market where we shopped around for some more tchotchkes to bring home.



Here's our driver, Tik, and me enjoying the first of many beers as we wandered around the marketplace. Tik was wearing his yellow shirt that day to honor the King. He was a cool guy and spoke great English so as Ingrid shopped, we chatted and drank beer.



The market had it all, including some great knock off watches. Check out this fake Rolex which, to me, looks like the real thing. It actually looks like something my dad would like.



I ended up getting a T-shirt with a Thai beer company logo on it and Ingrid got a bunch of random stuff after, of couse, haggling with each vendor over price. This stand was offering bootleg DVDs, including the complete set of Sex and the City (with all of the seasons), and Ingrid couldn't resist even though buying pirated goods is wrong. Well don't worry all you anti-pirating advocates because justice was served quickly. We were never able to find those DVDs when we got home. They simply disappeared. That's what we get, I suppose...



When I said Ingrid bought a bunch of stuff, I meant it. Look at this cart! All of that stuff is ours and there's still another cart that's not in this picture with our luggage on it. Well, right before we left the market, Ingrid spotted some dishes she wanted. That's right... of all things Ingrid could find, she found dishes. Heavy, large and fragile. I couldn't imagine how we'd transport so many dishes and, more importantly, how they'd survive the trip. If everything went according to plan, we still had 6 more flights and 1 speedboat ride before we'd be back home. But as you can see, Ingrid wanted to try. So we asked the salespeople to wrap everything up in newspaper and pack it all up in boxes for us. Again, this was right before we were planning on leaving for the airport, so there was very little time to spare before our flight. The instant the dishes were packed, we hopped in Tik's car and hoped he could get us to the airport in time. It wasn't until we unloaded the car and stacked our stuff on this cart (and the other cart) that I realized how much crap we had. And in case you were wondering, that thing wrapped in plastic is a rug Ingrid wanted us to haul all the way back home.



Okay, Ingrid, that's enough shopping. We can't possibly transport any more than the massive load we already have. I could tell that Ingrid was happy to be on our way, but part of me wished we could have spent just a bit more time in Thailand, rather that just pass through it.



The next part of our leg was a tough one. There are only two planes that fly to the Maldives, and a plane from Sri Lanka is one of them. That means we'd be catching a plane from Bangkok to Sri Lanka and then another from Sri Lanka to the Maldives, with an eight hour layover in between. That's right... eight hours.



Knowing we'd have an eight hour layover in Sri Lanka, before our trip, we checked into whether there was a hotel lounge in the Sri Lanka airport that we had access to. It turned out that there was only one lounge there we cared to use and Ingrid had access to it via her Saks Fifth Avenue card of all things. And for once in my life, I couldn't complain about Ingrid's shopping habits. Especially since by the time we arrived at the lounge, it was late for us and we were ready for bed. We were so tired we didn't even care that the lounge attendants weren't very welcoming or friendly.



But before enjoying some sleep, it was time to enjoy the best part of these lounges -- free alcohol. There was a decent selection of alcohol and juice, and the right combination made for an excellent evening cocktail. One evening cocktail became two evening cocktails became three evening cocktails... and so on and so on. And before I knew it, I was plastered. Ahhhhhh.



We were the only people in the lounge so we had unbridled access to everything. We seized on the opportunity to check our e-mail and send e-mails to friends and family back home telling them what a wonderful trip we were having. Being thoroughly inebriated within an hour, I was ready to get some rest, and as we used the computers, I spotted a perfect couch for a nice snooze. But unfortunately, the staff there was surprisingly obnoxious, and despite being the only patrons in the lounge, they didn't want us dozing off on the couches.



One of the obnoxious lounge attendants suggested we rent one of the overnight rooms in the airport with beds that were available. The price was reasonable, and given that I could use some good bed rest rather than chair rest, we were both open to it. But before putting our credit card down, Ingrid, being sharp and sober, requested that we see the room first. Okay, here's where things start to get a bit fuzzy for me. The attendant clearly had no choice but to show us the room, so we exited the lounge and walked for some time with our bags in tow until we arrived at a few numbered doors that were locked, at which point the attendant asked me for the key to the room that she gave me. Confused, I told her I didn't have any key and searched my pockets for it. Nothing. So she headed all the way back to the lounge while we waited there by the locked doors. As Ingrid and I chatted about how irritating the staff was, I found the key to the room in one of the lower pockets in my cargo shorts. You can see it in my hand in the picture above. Hahahaha. We both laughed at sending the lady all the way back to the lounge to look for the key, but whatever. She was rude... so rather than go back to tell her we had found the key, we just waited there... and laughed.



Eventually, the lady came back with another key for the room, and when she opened the door and switched on the lights, you'll never guess what we saw. A small room with a bed... with bugs scurrying everywhere! There were even bugs on the sheets and pillows! No joke. Ingrid and I were disgusted, yo say the least. So... just to be clear on our options at this point, we could either (i) rest in a swanky lounge with clean, suede couches that are bug-free, or (ii) sleep in a filthy little room infested with bugs. Needless to say, the choice was simple.



Ingrid told the lady that there was no way we were staying in that room. Irritated, she escorted up back to the lounge where she told us we needed to fill out a form explaining why we rejected the room, which Ingrid had no problem filling out. I think she just wrote "bugs everywhere!" or something to that effect. By that time, we figured we only needed about five more hours in the lounge before we'd have to leave for our next flight so we thought we'd ride it out there, but as we sat down to rest, the staff was quick to tell us that we weren't permitted to stay in the lounge for more than five hours total and that when our time was up (about four hours or so from then), they'd kick us out. What hospitality, I tell ya. First, they're generally unpleasant and seem irritated with us actually occupying the lounge. Second, they try to rent us a room infested with bugs. Third, they act like we're being snooty because we don't want to take the room. Fourth, they're going to give us the boot in a few hours. I mean it wasn't like the lounge was overcrowded (we were the only people in there!), and I had certainly done all the alcohol consumption I planned on doing by that point. But with no alternative, we opted to camp there for as long as we could.



And camp I did... right on that comfy, nug-free couch I had spotted earlier. And since we were already on bad terms with the staff, I laid out on the couch to sleep rather than sit up on it. Hopefully, I snored really loud, farted and was a general nuisance while I was there. I mean, c'mon. Were we really supposed to sleep with the bugs? I say not.