May 5
We get up early and enjoy our final breakfast at Khaosan
Road. We are sad about leaving behind
our familiar and cozy enclave here in the middle of Bangkok and heading into
the unchartered waters of Hong Kong. Hudson
and I have a plan to head off to Chatuchak Market for one last foray to pick up
some waxed thread that the kids want for future craft projects as well as a
final survey for beads, etc. for me. We
take a taxi to the market and are lucky to arrive just as the stalls are
starting to open and under the cloud cover we are lucky that the blazing heat
is being held at bay for the meantime.
We enter the maze of shops and are a bit uncertain whether or not we
will be able to “refind” the shop where we purchased the string
originally. Underway, I am able to
purchase some beading items and then Hudson navigates us successfully to the
very shop we were searching for.
Afterward, we agree it is time to get back to the hotel. We have arranged for a minivan to take us to
the airport around 1:30 for our flight and have little time before then to
ready our luggage, shower and take care of any last minute details. We have some small gifts for our friends at
Khaosan Road which we give to them and then head off to have a final meal at
Mr. Yin’s over on Rambuttri. Ohm joins
us for lunch and then shows us a new route back to the hotel. On our last day in Bangkok we are still
learning about the ins and outs of our neighborhood. We get back in time to say our goodbyes and
we are off to the airport. We get there
with plenty of time to check-in and have some snacks before our flight. Our flight is a bit shorter than we thought
and 3.5 hours later we touch down in Hong Kong.
This is a very efficient airport and we are whisked through immigration
and customs and have our bags in no time flat.
Once on the other side, we inquire about the bus transfers into the city
of Kowloon. A nice woman writes the name
of our stop in Chinese for us to give to the bus driver and directs us toward
where to get onto our bus. We purchase
our tickets and we are off. This is the
most efficient and clean place….it is an amazing treat to use the toilet and
have paper and a seat to sit down on…what luxury! Our bus trip lasts a little over and hour and
we get off amid the skyscrapers and hustle and bustle of the huge international
city. We find our guesthouse and get
checked into our room….and this is not an exaggeration…..about the size of a
slightly oversize twin bed (most people’ closets are larger than our sleeping
quarters). We have a somewhat restful
night as we have to get adjusted to living in such tight quarters, but the
shower is the saving grace….wonderful water pressure and nice hot shower to
relax the weariest of travelers. I am a
bit incredulous that this is the best deal we can find in Hong Kong and spend a
couple of hours on the free wifi trying to find a better price in one of the
other myriad guesthouses in our building.
No such luck. We will just have
to make the best of it for the next couple of days and its probably a good
thing….cause Beijing won’t have much, if any, more room.
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