Sleeping in and leaving Thailand

12.10.2008

I had originally thought we were leaving today at 9 a.m., so I was sleeping when Yui calls me on the phone at 8 a.m. to leave. I don't fully comprehend what's going on, I am under the impression that we are checking out of the hotel this morning. This is not true. Anyway, I pack up quickly and take my time at breakfast. Karen sees me down there, so I assume I'm still on schedule.

"So, we're leaving at 9 a.m. right?" "Um, no, I skipped the out trip today." "Are you kidding me?!" "Nope, everybody's gone." "Come ON, no way! Ahhh!"

I gulp down my coffee and hurry to the front desk to ask how I can get caught up with the rest of the group. They are going to see the confluence of the brown Mekong and blue Mun rivers and I'm going to miss it! The nice man at the desk informs me that I can take a taxi for 1,200 baht and meet up with everybody at the cave paintings. I don't really have a choice in the matter, so I pay the fare and they put me into an SUV and drop me off. Nobody seems very impressed, but what am I gonna do? We walk down the steep cliff to the ancient paintings. You can see images of people hunting, elephants, turtles, maybe a river, a bunch of hand prints and more. The paintings are done by mixing oxidized soil and sap from the rubber trees.

We go for lunch on the bank of the Mekong River and eat a quite uninspiring lunch. However, I really like this deep fried fish they give us. It's just a whole fish, dunked into batter, then deep fried, it's pretty good. Roger says that you can eat anything if you cook it with enough grease and salt.

I buy some more stuff at the little clothing stores set up near the river. This is the place where I got the best clothes. A flowing white skirt, a t-shirt, some shorts and another pair of pants.

We have to be back at the hotel and leave for the airport at 2 p.m., I'm not surprised that Yui is hurrying us along again. We get back with lots of time to spare and at the front desk, they hold me there to make sure I don't go away. I feel vaguely uneasy at this time, thinking maybe I am being accused of doing something wrong by bringing my own wine into the bar area last night. But no, it turns out I paid too much for the taxi ride, and they pay me back 500 baht. To thank them for their honesty, I give away my bottle of Thai whiskey. Wrongly thinking I'd be able to buy some later at the airport duty free. *sigh* The man seems very happy that I gave him the whiskey, I tell him he can only keep it if he shares with everyone else. His smile grows and he nods, "Yes yes of course."

I laugh and start packing up for the long journey home. Opening up my laptop bag, I find little tiny ants crawling all over everything... ohhhhhhh no, ants in my laptop, that can't be good. I shake them all out and find a big huge dead, teriyaki seasoned grasshopper at the bottom. Ha.

We board the bus and I take my usual spot at the back, sleeping across the long couch near the back window. Alan, Liza and Naomi are back from their boat tour of the Mekong River. I ask Alan to see his photos and they are stunning. Too bad I missed it. I attached them to the end of this blog, I hope you enjoy.

It takes two hours to get to the airport, and we left extremely early for our short flight. Someone from the hotel calls Yui and tells him Alan forgot something in his room. It's a big bag of silk scarves and other stuff. We would've had enough time to turn around and get it, but what Yui says goes, and Yui says that we have to get to the airport two hours early for our 6 p.m. flight back to Bangkok.

We wait around for what seems like forever, I buy some thai iced tea which is delicious, and some of my favourite custard buns, which is the best one I've ever had in my life. It's three times the size of the tiny ones that I used to get at the Majestic Grande, and deeeeeeeeelicious. Soft and chewy, the perfect warm steamy temperature, with sweet vanilla custard on the inside. Nyom nyom nyom.

We check our bags, watch the news in Thai. Forensic examiners are now examining the bodies of the protest victims, there have been no conclusions yet. Alan pushes me around on a baggage cart for a while. That soon gets boring. Alan aims me right at Sean and pushes me into his knees. He is engrossed by the television and doesn't notice I'm aimed like a heat seeking missile straight at him.

"Oh my lawd," he giggles, putting his hand to his mouth to stifle his embarrassment, glancing from me, to Alan and back again. We instantly erupt in an avalanche of laughter, unable to control our giggle outbursts. I think we've all gotten too tired to control ourselves anymore.

Soon, it's time to go through more security checks. There is another waiting room that we have to wait for another hour in. I entertain myself by watching a festive parade on TV. I try and copy the dance moves of the elegant Thai ladies, but it doesn't really work.

Finally we board the plane and before we know it, we're back in Bangkok, saying our goodbyes. All the Americans are catching direct connecting flights, but the Canadians have to get a hotel room before their flights back home. So we say goodbye to Roger, Sean, Megan, Mike and Barbara Sloane. Meow, "Teacup", Karen, Alan and Kayla are all staying in Thailand for a little longer, so we say goodbye to them too. Alan gives me a big hug and says, Casablanca style, "Stay in touch, kid." I roll my eyes and then we leave for our shuttle to the hotel.

Liza, Naomi, Irene and I check into the Novotel and immediately go to bed. Behind us in the insanely long check in line are a bunch of Australian retards all wearing the same cowboy hat and talking extremely loudly about getting drunk on buckets. Naomi and I glance at each other with snobbish looks. Oh man, no wonder people hate Westerners.

I have conveniently lost all of my e-ticket information, so I panic a little bit, but go down to the business centre where I find out all the necessary information for the low, low price of 150 baht. Irene is in the room just down the hall and I find out we're on the same flight to Vancouver in the morning. I tell her I'll see her in the morning, and I repack my bag, after emptying the whole thing to try and find my ticket receipt. *sigh*

Mekong River