April 2
…….as the bus takes off, rocking from side to side, we
settle into our seats and hunker down for the next ten to twelve hours….oh
boy. This is not our preferred form of
travel. We tried without success to find an overnight train that would have offered
us a flat surface on which we can lay our heads. Unfortunately, they were all full and we are
due back in Bangkok on April 2….so, here we are bumping down the road at a very
fast rate of speed in a bus cabin with a bunch of seething Asians who are most
unwelcoming to our intrusion into their little party. Sadly, Sam soon realizes that he has left his
itouch on the previous bus….we all mourn the loss, but as usual, Sam takes it
like a man. Meanwhile, as soon as the
lights go out, we attempt to recline our seats only to be told by our lovely
co-cabinmates that we are too far back….and thus begins a battle that shall
play out over the entire night. Paulie
has so little room for his knees that Annie cannot recline in the least……since
we care about his feelings, she is pretty much bolt upright all night until I
exchange seats with her. It is NOT
possible to get comfortable when your limbs continue to go to sleep, other people’s knees are thrust into your
back and your head keeps rocking sideways at the very whiff of dozing off. The bus eventually stops for a potty break
and everyone gets off….we are able to stretch our legs and use the most foul
bathroom of all time. It is a squatter
potty….enough said. Back on the bus, the
boys finally are able to drift off to sleep and then the next thing I know
Hudson is up and confronting the man behind him asking him to “please stop kicking
the back of his chair”. Not sure if they
guy finally obliges or not. Suffice it
to say, when we pull onto the side of Khaosan Road at 5:00am, we are less than
rested. It is quite interesting to see
the city at this time of day. Along the
alleyway as we wander to our wonderful Khaosan Park Resort, we see people
cooking up a storm in preparation of lunch.
They have these huge metal bowls and pots that are boiling away on small
gas stoves. We finally emerge onto
Khaosan Road as the night begins to fade into day and lo and behold it is a
rocking good time on the street. People
are awake, drinking, eating, getting massages, doing the Macarena, and
stumbling around. There are plenty of
ladies/ladyboys of the night picking the last remnants off the
pavement and leading them away. We are
too miserably tired to be amazed, but it is quite interesting upon
reflection. We make our way to the
hotel, and set down our bags. Afterward,
we venture through the crowd to find discover there are no less than seven
Seven-11’s on our street. We pick one
and purchase some Thai iced tea for those who like it. I, on the other hand need a huge jolt of good
old fashioned coffee and know just the Seven 11 for that. We walk to it and I get two cups of coffee and
some pastries for our hungry masses. We
return to the hotel and pretty much melt onto the sofas in the lobby. They
offer us a fresh cooked breakfast and we enjoy the lovely ambiance of our
reception area. . Sam and I seek out a nearby post office to inquire about
shipping some items home. They are not
even open yet. Luckily, we are allowed to get into our room around 8:00. We all set down our bags and flail our bodies
onto the beds and don’t leave that spot until around 2:00 in the
afternoon. After we awaken, we get a
little bite to eat and then return to the post office, but via a different
route. We end up finding a much better
post office and get a box into which we can pack a lot of stuff. We return to
the hotel, pack the box and then get is shipped in no time flat. The day is pretty much shot as we are so
exhausted, but we do manage to have a lovely meal of Indian food in an upstairs
restaurant. We get back home and hit the
hay.
No comments:
Post a Comment