Going where I’ve never been

Just when you think you are adapting to the Thai lifestyle, avoiding the tourist priced eateries, learning useful phrases, knowing the roads, etc. YOU GET SCAMMED! I write this laughing because nearly all experienced backpackers think they are smarter than the rest. The only reason backpackers say it won’t happen to them is because it already has happened to them or a good scammer hasn’t approached them. Generally speaking while traveling in a foreign country you have about 5-10 seconds of conversation to decide if that person is genuinely hospitable or a scammer. It’s a tough judge of character because if you travel every day with this guard up, shoeing away anyone offering a service, then you will miss out on many of wonderful people, amazing experiences, and culture that can only be discovered with the help of locals. Slow down, respect, and enjoy!

Bangkok for the most part is a safe and friendly city especially considering the dense population and low income. In a country that depends on tourism for a source of income, there is no doubt some people will find ways to take advantage of naive tourists. Tourists visiting developing nations call this a scam; however, entrepreneurs in industrialized nations call it capitalism.

Our weekend started out Friday down in Siam Square. I ventured down to the mansion of Jim Thompson, the man who is responsible for introducing silk to the world. The history of Jim’s life is fascinating and his disappearance mysterious. Rather than bore you with his life details, I will merely suggest you google his name if you feel inclined. Allison and I agreed to meet up at the “Earth from Above” exhibit nearby, as this will be her 3rd try to view the exhibit barring rain or other time constraints. The website is fascinating. http://www.yannarthusbertrand2.org/index.html I had a little time to kill so I wondered around looking for an accessory for my camera. There was no luck with the camera but I did stumble across a model shoot for an international magazine. It was open to the public and teams of hostesses and waiters walked around with all sorts of exotic Thai munchies/desserts on platters. Meanwhile hoards of photographers where taking pictures of gorgeous Thai girls laying on, standing next to, bent over a Ferrari and Audi R8. (I have many pictures but Allison said they couldn’t be posted here ☺) I managed to peel myself away just in time to go meet Allison at the exhibit.

We made it through the whole exhibit and decided to walk down to “Little Arabia” for dinner. Thai food is amazing but variety is good! She picked out a Lebaneese restaurant after telling me about all the delicious foods her dad and grandpa make. Dinner was good, however Allison said the kibby doesn’t match up to the kind her family makes. Little Arabia was a nice change from the Bangkok we have been accustomed to.

Plans for Saturday where rearranged a bit. Originally we planned to take a train to Ayutthaya, see some temples, and meet up with her friends for an evening birthday celebration. Our train left before we ever looked at a clock so a quick change of plans landed us at Chatuchak market. We roamed around, making a few selective purchases, for about 8-9 hours. For the first time since dating Allison, I felt old! My feet hurt from walking, back ached from standing, it was hot, etc etc…and sweet little Allison isn’t phased at all. I am convinced she could walk/run for days on end and never need a sip of water. That girl is bionic!

By this time, neither of us were up for a night of drinking so we settled on dinner and watched a movie on her computer. I don’t think Allison made it past the opening scene before her eyes got heavy. Allison insists this trait is inherited from her mom and NOT due to walking all day!

Feeling refreshed Sunday morning, our plan was to hang around town and see some of Bangkok’s main attractions. Dressed a bit more formal than our typical backpacker attire out of respect to the religion of nearly 23% of the world’s population, we visited Wat Po, a Buddhist temple home to the largest “reclining Buddha”.

Wat Po was quite inspiring. The intricacy put into every detail is just amazing. The temple is definitely beautiful, adorned with spires, Buddha statues, and tall gargoyle (ish) figures standing guard at every entrance. After feeling the heat of the afternoon, we wondered to a nearby 7-11 for some water and candy. While enjoying our refreshments outside, a gentlemen walking by stopped to ask where we are from. He seemed like a genuinely nice guy talking about his government job, giving us tips on the city, places to go, etc etc. Allison and I continued a conversation with him about used-book stores in Bangkok, which eventually led into other “great deals” around Bangkok. He was kind enough to tell us of a place to get really nice custom tailored clothing for a cheap price. This tailor is right across from his work and they make garments using only the finest cashmere and silk. Dress shirts, slacks, suits are their specialty. This is starting to sound appealing. Even though I wear a suit only a couple times a year, I’m thinking that it would be cool to have a custom made suit to take back home. This gentleman also offered us great advice on getting around Bangkok for cheap. He explained the tuk tuks with a yellow license plate are owned by the government and given stipends for fuel. On weekends they are encouraged to take tourists around town, wait for them at every stop, all for only about 30-40 baht. Apparently this is a way for the government to promote its town to tourists. This sounds realistic.

Just about that time, one of the many hundreds of tuk tuk drivers pulled up close to where we are standing and our new found friend pulled the “unsuspecting” driver over to have him confirm this deal on transportation. Before we knew what was happening, we were convinced to get in the tuk tuk to check out this tailor shop. It was a hot afternoon and we were tired of walking, so we decided why not. The only thing we really wanted to do was to be back at Wat Po in the evening to take some pictures in the better light. Off we went buzzing through the streets in the tuk tuk. The driver was really friendly, showing us what some of the buildings are as we passed. He is the first tuk tuk driver I have ever heard speak decent English. We pull up to our destination at the tailor shop. There were quite a few tuk tuk drivers lounging around out front, which is a pretty common site for Thailand. Once inside, some sharply dressed people offered some refreshments, and shown to leather chairs to relax. It was royal treatment. Allison and I both felt uncomfortably out of place. There was obvious pressure to buy now, buy a lot, and buy quickly. Once we conveyed that we only wanted to look around and that this “guy” who mentioned the place we should come check the store out….we were no longer given the royal treatment. He still tried to push a small order of 3 dress shirts and 2 pants for a “bargain”. He got the hint that we were backpacking around Thailand and not well-to-do tourists. Quickly, he pawned us off to the gift shop as a last effort for income. We strolled out and our smiling tuk tuk driver was ready and waiting!

By now we realize these people are all in cahoots with each other and the whole thing was a setup. As we drive down the street listening to our drivers near perfect English, it was obvious. We notice every single tuk tuk and taxi has a yellow license plate. There is no special government issued tuk tuk. No harm done but we got scammed. We told the driver to go back to Wat Po. He insisted he needed to get gas first. I didn’t understand but Allison did. Apparently he gets free gas from the government, by taking us to a couple of shops. He promised if we went in another store for 10 minutes so he could get gas, we could go back to Wat Po. Reluctantly, we agreed and as I climbed out of the tuk tuk I saw the sign for gems and jewelry. I burst out laughing. There were many other tourists looking around confused. The whole routine started over, got the royal treatment, explained we didn’t want to buy anything, got shown the over-priced gift shop, and slid out the side door to avoid the sales lady. There he was, our glorious tuk tuk driver, smiling and ready to be of service. He took us back to Wat Po without any further conversation. We paid him 40 Baht as agreed for the tuk tuk ride and off he went. No big deal, just a few hours of lost time.

Further research online, indicates that this is a really common scam. The same stores we visited were mentioned. The same stories are told, all with the same outcome. As it turns out, the drivers get paid cash to bring tourists to their shops. The highest paying being the tailor, gem shops, rug stores, and silk factories. Most tourists will pay the prices not knowing any better. It’s all a set up and you can read about it online. The web indicates that the government frowns on this but there is no real way to prevent it other than awareness. We fell for the scam. Fortunately, neither of us are spontaneous shoppers with expensive taste.

The colors at Wat Po were brilliant just before the sun went down. Allison and I walked to the pier and took a boat back to our little suburb far away from any tourist sites. I prefer to be around locals that don’t speak English. I prefer to be stared at walking down the street. I don’t mind if they giggle and smile at as I fumble my thai phrases trying to order a meal. I don’t mind being served fried rice because I unknowingly pointed to dried squid on a menu that has nothing but symbols. This is the Thailand I want to learn about! This is the Thailand I want to explore. In a country that caters to tourists, you have to get off the tourist trail in order to see what Thai culture is really about. Lesson learned!

After an entire two days back in Bangkok, Gabe and I were about ready for another trip. Gabe had been kind enough to go buy the bus tickets on Tuesday while I was at work, and seemed a bit unsure about things when I talked to him that night. There are many different bus operators, so he did a bit of asking around, trying to get a midnight-ish bus to Trat, where we would catch a ferry to the island of Koh Chang.

We needed four tickets, and the only four seats available were in the very back row of a bus, which is unacceptable for an overnight trip since the seats cannot recline. As he started to walk away, the woman suddenly found a brand new bus, leaving two minutes after the first bus, that had every single seat free. He did his best to ensure that it was a real bus, really going to Trat. She insisted that it was, so he bought our tickets and crossed his fingers!

Considering the luck that we’d had with the train just days before, we did more finger crossing as we began our journey to Koh Chang. What a journey it was! It began with a taxi from our apartment to the subway station. We then took the subway to the skytrain, which we then rode to the Ekamai bus station. Luckily it was a real bus (although the 11:32 departure time ended up being 12:17) and the four of us were soon sitting in the front row, armed with ipods and hoping for a bit of sleep.

There was no Thai pop music this time around and I was actually able to get a bit of shut-eye. We were expecting a 5-6 hour trip, but at some point around 4:15 the ‘bus hostess’ turned on all of the lights and walked around, shaking us awake and asking ‘Koh Chang?’ We nodded, half asleep, and she indicated that it was time to get off. It seemed way too early and we definitely weren’t at a bus station, but we followed the hoards of white people who were also filing off and into the rain.

It took some time to really wake up and figure out what was going on (luckily Chris and I were able to…neither of the guys ever really opened their eyes during all of this), and it turned out that we were at the ‘bus stop’ for the tour operator, where they proceeded to sell us tickets for their taxis to get to the ferry. My first instinct was ‘scam!’ but it really wasn’t, the price was about right. So I managed to buy four taxi tickets and four ferry tickets from a guy at a little table in the corner, then I squeezed myself into a spot on the ground among all of the other backpackers and their backpacks. It had been pouring down rain since we’d left Bangkok, and when coupled with the 3 hours of bumpy bus sleep, I wasn’t feeling too optimistic about things.

We were soon loaded into a songtaew and taken for a long, chaotic ride to the piers. By the time we got there, the rain had stopped, the sun was starting to come up and there was a stand with real coffee for me and a pineapple shake for Gabe! Things were looking up…we soon boarded the ferry and were pulling into Koh Chang by 7 a.m. Once we’d arrived at the dock, there was yet another songtaew ride (are you keeping count of how many legs this trip had?? We’re at seven!) up and down roads that made Khao Yai look like a beginner’s course.

We got off at Lonely Beach and set out to find a place to stay. We looked at a few places, passed on the 80 baht beach huts with stray cats living on the mattresses and finally stumbled onto some great little concrete bungalows. We still don’t know the name of the place, as it consisted of about five little houses in between two much larger, more established places, but the lady who owned them caught us as we wandered by and got our attention (partially due to the bath towel that she was wearing). Her husband showed us the rooms while carrying their one-year old on his hip and we were sold! For 250 baht ($8) per night we had a clean water-front bungalow with tile floors, hot water, a hammock on the porch and the sound of the ocean (which was located a mere 10 feet from our porch!).

The four of us went next door (literally five steps from our door) to this beautiful restaurant that was really nothing more than a polished teak deck with low tables, cushions on the floor, hammocks along the perimeter and a massive menu of Thai food, at Thai prices. Although it was 9 a.m. it felt as though it was lunch time, so we enjoyed a lazy meal of Tom Yum, Pad Thai and fresh fruit shakes while the waves lapped at the deck a couple of feet away. After that, it was nap time – the cool, overcast weather was perfect and we slept for several hours. Our room had great wood-framed windows that opened all the way up, letting in an amazing ocean breeze and of course that wonderful sound.

The laziness (and I mean this in the best way) lasted the rest of the day; we walked around a bit but soon found another restaurant where a friendly old man served us incredibly fresh som tum and coconut soup, along with complimentary watermelon. After that, it was back to the restaurant next door, where we spent hours drinking a few beers, writing in our journals and hearing nothing but the water. It was a blissful first day!

Gabe and I tried out a place called The Treehouse for breakfast the next morning. It’s one of those places that gets raved about in the Lonely Planet guidebooks and thus has become backpacker central. We had not been impressed with their huts (a tent would have been a greater luxury) and I’ll admit that I was a little wary of it – I like authenticity! We ended up being wonderfully surprised, and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast of rice milk and a banana pancake while, once again, sitting on a deck with the ocean beneath us.

We rented a motorbike that day and had a great time lazing around on White Sands Beach (the more upscale area of Koh Chang), exploring the undeveloped eastern side of the island and unsuccessfully searching for the Nonsi waterfall (it did give us another chance to push through thick brush for a couple of hours though). That evening we ended up back at The Treehouse with Chris and Joe where there was more amazing food (we were determined to get through that menu), fruity drinks, a gorgeous sunset and hours of lazing in hammocks until we finally managed to drag ourselves to bed. Day number two = success!

By day three I was pretty sure that there was no reason to ever leave the place! I went for a short run (felt more like mountain climbing) and then, surprise surprise, it was time to go eat and lay in hammocks again. We spent some quality time on our beach with the other two and then, as soon as we felt as though an acceptable amount of time had passed, we headed right back to The Treehouse to work more on menu-conquering! Literally, every meal felt like Christmas morning and it never cost more than three or four dollars for the two of us.

That night The Treehouse was hosting a party where they would be serving a special barbeque menu. We all tried to make space in our stomachs before the food ran out…I’m not sure that it was a good idea, but I made space! It was the epitome of vacation time…a beautiful, lazy island, swinging hammocks, reggae music, fresh fruit shakes of every imaginable sort and more food than anyone could ever hope to eat (though we certainly tried!). Bangkok was a distant memory and we all tried not to remember it…

Sunday was our final day and it dawned gray and rainy. It was the sort of rain that wasn’t going to stop, so after sleeping in late (wondering how on earth I would live without the sound of the ocean) we packed our stuff and headed back to our second home for, yes, another meal. We hung around there, eating and reading and writing until about 2:00. At two the four of us caught a songtaew back to the ferry and departed Koh Chang. The storms were rolling in and it seemed to be a good day to leave (assuming that we had to leave). The ferry was slow and we caught the tour operator’s songtaew back in Trat, wondering how on earth we’d make it to the ‘station’ by 4:00, which was the last bus of the day.

The drivers were intent on getting us there and, for the sake of my parents, I won’t describe the trip in too much detail! The important part is that we made it in one piece (somehow!), caught the bus (which had waited a good 15 minutes for us) and rolled back into Bangkok around 9 p.m.

When it was all said and done, the two of us spent a total of $140. This includes 12 modes of transportation, three nights in an ocean-front bungalow, a motorbike rental, gasoline, 20-30 meals (each one worth at least $15 by U.S. standards), far too many fruit shakes to count, a sufficient amount of alcohol, an item or two of clothing, internet usage (we had to see whose blog entry got more comments…thanks, everyone) and a few other odds and ends.

Have I mentioned that I love Thailand?