The Agent
If I thought Khao San Road looks nothing like the movies then this is because I was not on Khao San Road, I was around the corner. This is Khao San Road:
Travel comes from travail. You will hear it said often on this blog. And today, the labour in travel began with me trying to secure a visum for Indonesia.
I fell out ouf bed at about 10:30 after not drifting off to sleep, until about 3 am, despite my tiredness. Heck, it was only 19:00 hours in London. My earplugs are a godsend when it comes to keeping out the scooter-noise—I’ve taken 30 pairs with me and firmly believe that you can never have too many. Plus they’ll be a coveted currency to trade with other backpackers in noisy city hostels—I bet they did not think to bring any 😉
Anyway, this being the time, I could forget about making it to the Indonesian Embassy by twelve to drop off my paperwork, which means I won’t get my visum until after the weekend. This was just as well, because when AirAsia failed to accept my credit card I thought the game was over. There is a travel agent in every shopfront here, even in the internet café where I’m writing this, but they could not help me. “Fly Bali to Kuala Lumpur? Oh no—very expensive!”
The AirAsia flight had been under 40 bucks, including airport tax.
I might have given up was it not for the fact that John is coming to Bali Jan20th-Feb4th. I have to be there at that time. And I have to have a flight booked out of Indonesia in order to qualify for a visum. A different way of thinking was required.
I needed to rephrase my question. And I needed somebody to help me who was street-smart and open to suggestions—in short, I needed an agent. And I knew just the man. Every Asian town has one: a guy who knows everybody, can blag anything, is used to wheeling and dealing and who is shrewd, with a strong business sense. Here it is Mr. Somboon Detkoom of the Triad Travel Service at 25 Soi Chanasongkram Pranakorn. A visa agent—not merely good, but the best.
“You fly AirAsia Denpasak, Bali to Kuala Lumpur February 7th? No problem. Give me details.”
That good.
He was on the phone at once. I had picked my flight (the cheapest) on the internet computers in the backroom, handed over 2300 Bhat and had my printed confirmation in the afternoon. Meanwhile, I went sight seeing. The light was bad, but you can see some photos on Flickr, although there may be problems with this site.
As I have to spend some time in BKK, I will take the camera on several outings, but I also leave it at home occasionally. You know what I think of tourists who can only view the world through a lens. Plus I can only either take photos or write at the same time—the two modes require completely different frames of mind.
Tags: SE Asia, Tag Index
Denni