Spare the Talking and Start Walking

12/29/09: Bangkok, Thailand to Siem Reap, Cambodia

I expected to learn a lot about myself on this trip, but our time in Thailand taught me two things that I never expected to learn:

1. According to Zhou, when I get worked up I angrily jab my finger like I’m standing next to John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever.
2. When I no longer trust anyone, I simply lower my head and start walking with no destination in mind.

More on that second item later.

This morning we left Bangkok for what will hopefully be the last time ever. In order to sneak out without saying goodbye, we caught the 5:55am train to Aranyaprathet and long before the sun rose we were gone. This train wasn’t like the ones we have become used to riding, but the lack of cockroaches surprisingly didn’t make for a more enjoyable ride. Instead, as it turned out, we traded in the cockroaches for an overcrowded car with incredibly rigid benches and open windows that let in almost biblical amounts of ash twice during the ride (where the ash came from, we have no idea). To top it all off, the nice lady in the bench facing us had the thirstiest six-month old I’ve ever seen. Where does etiquette state that you should look when a quarter-naked mother is sitting directly across from you for six hours?

When we finally escaped the train, memories of Bangkok took hold of me and I began walking. Assuming every person was out to scam us, I quickly began ignoring every living thing that came within ten feet of Zhou and me. The problem was, we needed a tuk-tuk to travel the six kilometers to the border, and I was walking with my head down and no clear plan on how to get a driver while ignoring everyone. Zhou finally talked a little sense into me, and I picked the fourth tuk-tuk driver we talked to after not trusting any of the others.

On the short ride to the border, I shifted my head to the up position so I could watch all signs and turns that the driver was making. With me glaring angrily from the back seat, we actually made it to the border… almost. We pulled into a parking lot next to a poorly built hut labeled “Cambodian border and visa service.” A man wearing a name tag and carrying a clipboard approached us and told us we were at the border. Zhou and I have now been to almost twenty border crossings, and not one has been a rickety shack, so I about lost it. I made it clear that we already had our Cambodian visas (even though we didn’t) and that everyone was a dirty rotten liar because we weren’t at the border. I left Zhou in the tuk-tuk (sorry Zhou!) and once again I put my head down and started walking.

A minute later Zhou came to the street, followed closely by the liars and the cheats. They wanted me to pay for the tuk-tuk ride, but I refused because we weren’t at the border. They insisted we were, and pointed to the police station and told me to ask them for myself. I confidently went inside knowing I was right, and found out I was wrong. We were as close to the border as the drivers were allowed to take us. It just so happened that this particular fake border crossing was very near the real one. I paid the driver and we walked to the official building and checked out of Thailand.

Between Thailand and Cambodia, on the casino-lined streets of no man’s land, I went into walking mode again, ignoring anyone who spoke to us. We walked right past the real Cambodian visa office as I hastily replied “no” to the man who asked us if we already had our visas. A few seconds later it was Zhou again to the rescue, walking back to the man and telling him we actually didn’t have our visas – I don’t think she realized my plan was to unleash a swarm of bees on the border and then sneak into Cambodia without ever trusting anyone for help.

We filled out our forms, bribed the border patrol with 100 baht (we decided our time was more important than our principles, so we paid the corrupt officers $3 rather than wait them out), got our visas stamped and then, you guessed it, started walking.

We ignored all the people telling us that we needed to catch a bus to the taxi stand, despite the hoards of gullible tourists sitting there waiting on the free shuttle. (Zhou had read about this scam, where they take you to the middle of nowhere and then overcharge you for the cab. I just had my head down.) We walked past all the cabbies trying to get our fare for the 150 km journey to Siem Reap. We must have walked for close to ten minutes before we realized we were running out of street and had to get a taxi soon. Two guys who had been following us were coming to the realization that we weren’t going to mess around, so they offered us a fare with the stipulation that we would only need to pay if our first stop was at our guest house. It was as good of deal as we were going to get, so we nervously got into the cab and kept our fingers crossed that we’d soon see Siem Reap.

I don’t like this person I turned into today. I’d much rather be over-trusting than under. But we’re here in Siem Reap now and we made it with relatively little hassle, so I don’t regret it. Zhou, you can breathe a sigh of relief – I’m ready to relax and have a good time.
_____________________________________________

Picture of the Day: Zhou and her enormous dead fish at Dead Fish Tower, a quality recommendation from Gavinmac. Thanks!

Read Full Post »

More Malls Than New Jersey!

12/28/09: Bangkok, Thailand

Having enjoyed the relatively cool weather in Chiang Mai for the last five days, stepping out of the train into the sticky Bangkok heat this morning was quite the shock. By the time we walked the ten minutes to our guesthouse, Kevin was dripping with sweat and I was even glistening a little.

So we decided against doing any real sightseeing – the air-conditioned indoors being a more attractive option. Mindful of what happened the last time we wandered around Bangkok with no itinerary and a map out, we spent a few minutes planning out what we were going to do: MBK, Siam Paragon, King Power.

What, you say? Those are all malls?

Hm, what a coincidence.

Even though we never actually shop in malls, we like visiting them because 1) they are air-conditioned, 2) every mall has a food court, usually good, and 3) in Bangkok, they give tourists free stuff!

Our first stop was MBK, one of the biggest malls in Bangkok. We came here once before, but didn’t have our passports on us and so couldn’t get our free drinks. But this time we were prepared! We stopped by the fifth floor “Food Avenue” and finally got our two free glasses of Thai iced tea. Yum.

Our next stop was Siam Paragon, about ten minutes away from MBK. Paragon is my favorite mall in Bangkok because it has THE best pad thai I’ve ever had. And for 50 baht (less than $2), it’s also a pretty good deal.

After we ate lunch, we decided to watch a movie. What can I say? We like to live like the locals. Bangkok is said to have some of the nicest movie theaters in the world. The Cineplex at Siam Paragon had tickets ranging from 140 baht (roughly $5) to 3000 baht (about $100). I’m not sure what they give you in the 3000 baht seats, but if it doesn’t come with your own puppy that sits in your lap during the movie, then in my mind it’s just not worth it. There were at least four or five different theaters, one of which looked more like a nightclub than a movie, another that had seats in pairs in their own little booths and a third that looked like a super-fancy opera house. Kevin and I splurged (shocking!), spending an extra 30 baht for a seat in the digital theater. I have to admit that when we first walked into the theater, I was a little disappointed. There weren’t any puppies or even any blankets – it was just your plain, old, ordinary movie theater.

After 25 minutes of previews and commercials, the movie was finally about to begin. Oh – wait – except it wasn’t really about to begin. We looked up at the screen and instead of seeing the beautiful faces of Jude Law and Robert Downey, Jr., we read, “Please stand to honor the king as we play the national anthem. (Feel free to sing along.)” And then, of course, they played the Thai national anthem to a montage of footage of Thai people with – get this – not the king, but PICTURES of the king. Like there was one scene where some business people stopped to help some other people push their bus that had broken down and in the background in the grassy median in the intersection, there’s this huge picture of the king looking upon the whole thing benevolently. And another scene where there was a flood and an old woman is being rowed out in a canoe with all of her belongings, looking heartbroken but hopeful as she clutches onto the frame of – you guessed it! – a giant picture of the king.

Is it just me or is all that a bit weird?

Anyway, after the anthem was over, the movie finally did start. The movie itself (Sherlock Holmes) was enjoyable – and paying that extra 30 baht for digital was definitely worth it. The picture quality was amazing, no crackling at all. It was like watching a gigantic HDTV.

After the movie, we went to King Power mall to shamelessly pick up a free keychain and free drink but not buy a single thing. Because that’s how we roll.

Meet my new elephant friend.

We ended the day with two giant bowls of noodles at Grandma’s Noodle House (recommended) near King Power. It’s our last day in Thailand, and though we’ve had a couple of not-so-good experiences here, we’re both a bit sad to leave. I think someday we’ll probably come back – but when we do, we’re coming in mango season.

If you are travelling to Thailand be sure to check out many Bangkok holiday deals and special offers in order to to save money and time. (Sponsored by Flight Center.)

_____________________________________________

Puzzles for Postcards

Rhyme Time! (Solve all four of these building-related rhymes)

An addition onto Mel Gibson’s estate
A large, wide or college-ruled metropolitan tower
Sitting Bull’s home, after being taken over by witches
A stick protruding from Butch Cassidy’s pad
_____________________________________________

Picture of the Day: I had never seen a section thusly labeled in a bookstore before this.

Read Full Post »

At Least We Weren’t Shammed

12/22/09: Bangkok, Thailand

In the aftermath of our first big scam incident, I can only think of one thing: scams. Perhaps we were a bit too naïve (ok, so ‘perhaps’ is not the correct word here), but they really are everywhere in Bangkok. Now that our first scam-perience is in the books as a victory for the good guys, I’m glad it happened to us because it really opened our eyes to, as Aladdin would put it, a whole new world.

Narrowly Avoided Scam #1: Last night we went to the train station to book our now-needed tickets to Chiang Mai, using, of course, a small portion of our newly-pocketed 7,400 baht. Upon arrival, a blue-shirted man at the information desk outside the station came forward to help us book our seats. Remember how I said that the scamster from before was a nice man? This man was really really nice. If he worked at a restaurant where customers tip, he’d be a millionaire. Anyway, he led us to the inside information desk (one with bars separating passengers from the window attendant, so it had to be legit), where he had the lady look up our train schedule. “Sorry, no seats left on your train? Would you like to take a bus?”

Now a bit suspicious of bus travel, we didn’t really want to, but let him lead us upstairs to the tourist travel agency that booked buses. Each seat would cost about $11 more than if there was room on the train. We both waited for the nice nice man to leave, before looking at each other skeptically and then walking right back down to the train ticket window. Sure enough, 159 seats left on the train. Hmmmm.

[Side note: Shortly thereafter, I watched an “official” looking man in a green shirt talk to another lost-looking backpacker who had come to the train station, presumably to book a train. After a bit of conversation, the tourist followed the man upstairs to the travel agency next to the one we were taken to. Hmmmm.]

Narrowly Avoided Scam #2: This morning we went to the Grand Palace, one of only three reasons to visit the hole that is Bangkok (the other two being Wat Pho and the city’s impressive movie theaters). As we walked from the ferry station to the awe-inspiring conglomerate of gold-plated temples and mansions, a man asked us if we were going to see the Grand Palace. We tried to ignore him, but he kept talking, saying how Zhou wouldn’t be allowed in since her dress didn’t cover her knees, or something like that. Had this been before we did all our scam research, we might have believed him. Now we knew that we was going to try and direct us to another temple, probably with a tuk-tuk driver friend of his who could make a side stop at a gem store. This being the case, I took the man by the throat and told him we’d been messed with one too many times and weren’t going to stand for it anymore. Just kidding – we simply kept walking, and I said in passing she was let in the day before wearing the same dress.

Narrowly Avoided Scam #3: Still having not reached the main gates of the Grand Palace, a man standing by a smaller, unguarded set of gates was shouting to passers-by, “entrance to Grand Palace this way!” I looked down the alley and saw at the end of it one of the complexes impressive buildings, albeit past a fence. It seemed like the truth, but at the same time it seemed odd. We kept walking and soon after found the real entrance. At the bottom of the sign outside? “Do not trust wily strangers.”

…

After noticing a few other oddities – merchants renting long pants and sleeved shirts for 30 baht literally 30 feet away from where they were being rented for free inside the main entrance, men in fake name tags helping strangers before they reached the ticket line, etc – we are glad to be leaving Bangkok today. However, we still have the biggest scam of all to overcome in a week: trying to cross to border and get to our already booked hostel in Siem Reap. We’ve done a lot of reading on the subject and now think we have a good grasp on the best way to cross into Cambodia, so we’ll let you know how it goes at the end of December.

[Addendum: We have recently learned of the newest scam, “push-pocketing.” Someone drops their cell phone or wallet into your pocket or luggage and then confronts you for having stolen it. They have a friend who “witnesses” the whole situation and they threaten to call police if you don't give them some money. Obviously a tourist in a foreign country doesn't stand much chance with the police against two locals, so this one seems like a tough one to stop. Hopefully we won't run into it.]
_____________________________________________

Thought of the Day: People in a hurry never seem to understand elevator theory: if you get in first, you’re going to be the last one out.
_____________________________________________

Picture of the Day: I’m not a big fan of short people who carry umbrellas around in the heat because I often get jabbed in the neck by them, but I’ll make an exception for Zhou.

Read Full Post »

At Least We Weren’t Slammed

12/21/09: Bangkok, Thailand

[Continued from yesterday.]

After some hours of Googling before we went to bed last night (“Bangkok scams,” “Bangkok tailor scams,” “TAT Bangkok travel agencies”), I fell asleep a sadder but wiser Zhou, thinking that though we had overpaid for our tickets, we at least HAD bus tickets that would eventually take us safely to Chiang Mai and later on, Siem Reap. Kevin, on the other hand, woke up at 4am wondering how his fantasy football team was doing (losing badly, partly due to the fact that he traded away Miles Austin – see Kevin, I do listen to you). Then, since he couldn’t fall back asleep, he spent the rest of the wee hours of the morning reading about how all buses from Bangkok to Siem Reap are scams.

He then woke me up at 7am.

K: All buses from Bangkok to Siem Reap are scams!
Z: Wha?
K: They’re ALL scams! We have to go get our money back!
Z: Can I brush my teeth first?

Teeth brushed, we headed out bright and early to the travel agency we had been driven to yesterday. On the 45-minute walk from the nearest BTS station to the travel agency, we formulated a plan of attack. I like to think I masterminded the plan, but I was very much distracted from our conversation by two thoughts: 1) How on earth is it possible that ALL BUSES from Bangkok to Siem Reap are scams? Shouldn’t someone have done something about this by now? and 2) Ohmigod, we’re not going to be able to find this travel agency! This is a fake business card with a fake address and we’ll have lost $220, and we won’t be able to go to Chiang Mai and stay in the really nice hotel that Kevin’s parents got us for a Christmas present!

Really, my fear wasn’t totally unfounded, as the map on the back of the business card was almost all in Thai, and we had to ask seven or eight people for directions before we finally found the little road the travel agency was on.

On our walk over, we had decided that Kevin would be the main talker and point-maker, while I would jump in with comments when needed and just stand behind him looking stern and immovable. We decided this because Kevin is bigger and scarier looking than me (though I am shriller) and because I have a tendency to cry in high-emotion situations. Not because I’m sad, mainly just because I have overactive tear ducts.

Anyway.

We walked into the agency, and Nicky greeted us with a huge smile. (I did NOT smile back, though it was a bit hard because I am by nature such a sweet and friendly person – and isn’t it just instinctive to smile back at someone who smiles at you?) When he saw the looks on our faces, his smile quickly faded away. I, forgetting my job of looking stern and immovable, sat down and relaxed in one of the comfy leather chairs in the corner and then listened to the following conversation.

K: We want a refund.
N: Why?
K: We changed our plans, and we don’t want to do this anymore, so we need a refund.
N: Ok, I give you 60% refund.
K: No, you give us a 100% refund.
N: No, impossible.
K: No, it’s not impossible. Just give us our money back.
N: No, I did nothing wrong. I give you 80% refund. If I did something wrong, then, ok, but I did nothing wrong.

Now, Kevin turns into someone I don’t recognize – a loud, shout-y person who jabs his finger wildly and randomly at things with each point he makes.

K: You lied to us! Jabs finger at Nicky. You told us we couldn’t get to Siem Reap from Koh Chang! Jabs finger in the air. You made us change our plans so that we would stay with your guesthouse in Chiang Mai! Jabs finger at Nicky’s desk. You lied to us, and we want our money back! Jabs finger vindictively at nothing in particular.

For the next five or ten minutes Kevin and Nicky bicker about whether or not it is possible to get to Siem Reap from Koh Chang, with Nicky eventually changing his tune and saying it IS possible, but not with the timetable that we gave him (at one point, he, without even a trace of irony, offers to book the bus from Koh Chang to Siem Reap for us). While all this is going on, I am still sitting in my corner, not saying anything or helping out at all, but at least by this point I have remembered that my job is to look stern and immovable and so I have arranged my eyebrows appropriately. Continuing…

K: I’ll go the tourist police and the TAT headquarters if that’s what you want.
N: Fine, go! I did nothing wrong.
K: Look, you’re going to have a lot of people coming in today, with a lot bigger plans than us. Give us our money back and we won’t make a big deal out of it.
Dun dun dun! I just wanted to warn you that my big moment is coming up, so pay attention. Here’s where I finally jump in with my one line.
Z: I will sit here ALL DAY and tell anyone who comes in here that you are a liar and convince them to leave. Is that what you want?

Then Nicky looked at us for a second, no doubt scared by my stern and immovable face. I think he was probably wondering what the odds were that we actually meant what we said (100%, we even brought some books with us in case we had to come to this preplanned last resort and it ended up being a few hours before Kevin came back with the tourist police). In the end, we must have looked convincing enough (and I think it helped that I was already comfortably seated in the leather chair), because he nastily replied (we are a family blog so I can’t say what was said exactly), “@%&^@$^#%. Fine. I get your money.” When Kevin made a motion to follow him, he jabbed his finger at Kevin and said angrily, “Sit down! Sit down!” Kevin hastily sat down in the other leather chair beside me, and we looked at each other, both trying not to grin. Nicky came back with all of our money. Then there was a really awkward kind of dance, with Kevin holding out the bus vouchers and Nicky holding out our money and neither of them wanting to give the other one anything without having gotten what they wanted first. I had this strong desire to laugh, but I thought it might be inappropriate under the circumstances so I managed to contain myself. Eventually, Kevin gave Nicky the vouchers, and Nicky handed us our money back, all the while yelling at us to get out. We practically ran the two feet to the door and out onto the sidewalk. Nicky’s parting shout to us was, “That way to hell!”

We quickly walked away from the travel agency, high on adrenaline and the amazing smell of 7,400 baht. As we were walking away, grinning from ear to ear over having un-scammed ourselves, I looked over at Kevin and said, “New rule: NO getting ushered into vehicles. It causes too much trouble.”
_____________________________________________

Thought of the Day: A lot of things don’t taste good right after brushing your teeth, but I kinda like the way milk tastes right after brushing. Nice and minty.
_____________________________________________

Picture of the Day: Kevin says he put this picture in the blog earlier, but I don’t think he gave it the prominence it deserves. I beat Kevin straight up in a game of bowling for the second time EVER!

Read Full Post »

At Least We Weren’t Spammed

12/20/09: Bangkok, Thailand

Today happened so fast that here’s what I would like to believe occurred:

After visiting Wat Pho and the world’s longest indoor reclining Buddha, we luckily bumped into a nice Thai man while we were lost in the city. Not only did he help us find our way, but he also flagged down a cheap tuk-tuk to take us to a travel agency (we needed to book bus tickets) for only ten baht. Ten baht – that’s about 30 cents! We hopped in the tuk-tuk and visited a lovely temple and a suit store (the friendly man found out we were bankers and would need nice, cheap clothing after returning home from vacation) before heading to the agency. There we booked our next three long bus rides and two nights’ hotel accommodation for a good price. Then the tuk-tuk driver gave us his inside advice on a great seafood market to grab dinner. He dropped us off there, we paid our ten baht fare and then sadly said our goodbyes. Unfortunately though, we found out we were a little short on cash and couldn’t afford the reasonably priced seafood, so we caught the nearby monorail and stopped by a food court on the way back to the hostel. It was a great evening.

Me and as much of the reclining Buddha that we could fit into one picture.

Dropping coins into these buckets means blessings for you and your loved ones.

The grand architecture and meticulous detail here is so impressive.

…

Here’s what actually happened:

We were scammed!!!

For the first time as inexperienced world travelers, our kindness and generosity was used against us. We trusted the nice Thai man like Elin trusted Tiger (who happens to be part Thai). But in the end he played us like a snake charmer’s flute. The real story:

We had a lovely time at Wat Pho, and we were in even better spirits after buying a cheap street painting to hang in our apartment next year. We planned on seeing a few more temples and then eating at a highly-recommended seafood restaurant before heading home. We were approaching the last of these temples when the man approached us. He was dressed well and his English was surprisingly good, although just bad enough that Zhou and I couldn’t understand the important parts of what he was saying. He claimed to be a history teacher at a nearby school, and after a short chat he asked us if we had heard of the holiday festivities going on in town. We hadn’t, and he realized it was probably because we didn’t read Thai. Today was an important Buddhist holiday though, so to celebrate the government was offering cheap tuk-tuk rides and there was a free kickboxing tournament going on. If we hurried, we could catch it!

I think both Zhou and I were pretty keen on this idea, so when he started scribbling down a few things for us to do on our map, we didn’t even catch on to what his route was.

1. Temple Blue Buddha (“Free kickboxing championships, today only.”)
2. Top Ten Collection – suit (“Half price suits, best in Thailand.”)
3. T.A.T. (“Buy bus tickets to Chiang Mai.”)
4. Seafood (“You like seafood? Good seafood dinner.”)
5. Sukhumvit Road (“Tuk-tuk take you back home.”)

Why we are gullible tourists, reasons #1, 2 and 3: They have kickboxing championships at a temple? How impossibly good can these suits be that a random English teacher spots two backpackers and has to tell them about the deals? What kind of history teacher walks up, chats for a minute, then takes your map and draws out your evening plans for you?

Why we are stupid tourists, reasons #4 and 5: The cheap government tuk-tuks are only the yellow and blue ones (notice, Michigan colors) – wait, look there’s one coming around the corner now! Hurry, get in, get in! The man negotiated the ten baht fare for us, and like that, we were off. At this point, I was thinking, I’m really glad we finally met a nice local – this is going to be a great evening!

The tuk-tuk soon came to a stop at the temple and the driver offered to wait outside while we looked around. We walked in the main entrance and there was nothing but a temple under heavy construction and two local kids playing a game in the nearby street. Zhou and I were about to talk to each other about this, when another friendly Thai man approached, saying the temple just closed a few minutes ago. Then somehow, someway, he began talking about Top Ten Collection and how great the suits are there. Hey! We just ran into a guy who told us about this place! It must be really good – we’re lucky because we’re going there next! I was clearly amazed – two random strangers who clearly did not know each other both brought up out of the blue Top Ten Collection and its big one-day suit sale.

We thanked him for his advice, but I was actually a bit disappointed in the lack of kickboxing, so I asked him about it. He mentioned two places where matches were being held that night, but neither started until 6:30pm. Oh, that makes sense – we’ll get the driver to take us to the kickboxing match after our delicious seafood dinner. We headed back to our tuk-tuk.

Why we are idiotic tourists, reason #6: While on our way to the suit store, our driver explained that Top Ten Collection would subsidize him the gas money for bringing in customers, and that’s why we needed to stop there. Sure, sure originally the cheap fare was because of the “Lucky Buddha Day” government holiday, but it makes sense that Top Ten Collection would throw some money around as well.

Why we are easily preyed-upon tourists, reasons #7 and 8: We didn’t buy a suit, but more importantly we didn’t even realize that this store was not having a sale at all today. Our next stop was at the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), an organization that has actually been quite successful at promoting tourism through the country. However, as we found out later, the TAT does not act as a travel agent, and agencies with the TAT sign in the window are generally linked to scams. At the time though, we were simply relieved to have a chance to get tickets on a bus we felt might sell out before the next morning.

When we left the TAT, we not only had bus tickets to Chiang Mai in our hands, but also bus tickets back to Bangkok, bus tickets to Siem Reap and two nights accommodation at a Chiang Mai hostel of the agency’s choosing. Our wallet was approximately $220 lighter as a result (a ridiculous sum here in Thailand).

Why we are naive tourists, reasons #9 and 10: After leaving the tourism agency, we asked our driver if he could take us to our originally planned upon restaurant for dinner and we showed him the address. “Restaurant closed today. Holiday. You eat at seafood market – much cheaper and better.” That was the end of that. No wait, it wasn’t. “Before we go, I take you to tailor store – best in town, highest quality material and big sale. They give me gasoline voucher also.”

By this time, I’d like to say we knew what was going on, but a part of me still wanted to believe that he was telling the truth. We agreed to go, knowing that we wouldn’t buy anything and figuring it would only waste another ten minutes. We ended up barely escaping the pressure-packed pitch of the salespeople who, unlike at Top Ten Collection, wouldn’t let their customers go away empty-handed without a fight.

We hopped back in the tuk-tuk, at which point the driver explained to us that he could not take us to our hostel at the end of the night and would drop us off at the seafood market as his last stop. At this point though, we could care less – we walked in the seafood market just long enough for him to leave (and for us to notice the outrageous prices) and then turned around and hopped on the monorail to our own dinner.

…

Looking back at the night, it seems quite obvious just how dumb we were to go along with the scam. Fortunately, we didn’t buy any suits or eat at the seafood market. Unfortunately, we did drop two Benjamins and a whoever’s-on-the-twenty-dollar-bill at the travel agency. More importantly than the fact that we overpaid, we now have to live knowing we contributed to the income of the three guys who scammed us and we have to wonder if the buses we paid for will actually get us to our destinations, if the buses exist at all. Are we going to become two more statistics in the world of Bangkok scams? Tune in tomorrow to find out.

[To be continued tomorrow.]
_____________________________________________

Thought of the Day: My new-found adoration of books has led to a new-found admiration of movies. I will never comprehend the genius it takes to turn novels into films.
_____________________________________________

Picture of the Day: They’ve somehow turned Zhou’s little brother into a pastry here in Thailand.

Read Full Post »