Saturday, November 25, 2006
I have been to hell and back! Getting to Kanchanaburi
Okay. Two days ago was my first rough patch during this trip so far. I left southern Thailand - Krabi - flying back to Bangkok on a relatively new discount airline called Air Asia. I arrived two hours early at 10 a.m. to be informed that the flight was delayed until 2:30 p.m. This royally ticked me off since I could have slept in or had one more fabulous Thai massage or lain on the beach but was stuck in a small airport with no diversions such as book shops, restaurants, etc. The bright side was that I met up with Matt, a British guy who had bee living in Bangkok with his partner for the past year and working as an intern at the UN. He gave me great travel tips for Cambodia and Vietnam and we chatted about his work in HIV prevention. We finally landed in Bangkok in late afternoon as the sun was setting and just in time for....RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC.
Now for those of you who aren't familiar with Bangkok traffic jams, they are absolutely evil. Gridlock for miles. Overpowering pollution and aggressive drivers constantly honking their horns. So Matt and are sat in a metered taxi for more than an hour before dropping us off at the train station where the plan was for me to hop on a train to Kanchanaburi, near the River Kwai, which was my next destination. By this time, Matt has left to run some errands before flying home to London. Now keep in mind I'm about six hours behind in planning. I arrive at the platform to be informed that the last train for the day left an hour before. By this time, it's night and there are only a few taxis around. I hail one down but he refuses to turn his meter on as he wants to charge me an outrageous fare price. So I tell him to go stuff it and walk to the main road. By this time, I'm so distraught, I find another taxi driver and ask him how much to drive me to Kanchanaburi which is two hours away. He quotes some outrageous amount - 10 times the normal price - and after some negotiation, we agree on a price. I show the taxi driver where Kanchanaburi is on the map and the spelling of the city's name. He nods and off we go. I had this nagging suspicion in the back of my mind that this was just too easy so I kept alert. After about 45-minutes in the taxi, I look up and see a sign which reads "CHONBURI" and I realise, oh my gosh, he is going to the wrong place. Chonburi is in the exact opposite direction to where I'm going. Keep in mind it's still rush hour and I have been in the taxi for about two and a half hours. I'm so tired and distraught and stressed at this point that I call the hotel where I stayed in Bangkok where I know the reservation manager speaks English. She then talks to the Thai taxi driver and arranges for him to drop me off at the bus station where I can catch a local bus to Kanchanaburi. Which he does. So at 10 p.m., I finally leave Bangkok jam-packed in, thank goodness, an air-conditioned bus full of friendly Thai people smiling at me, the only foreigner onboard. I wanted to hug and kiss each and every one of them and then cry on their shoulders about Bangkok taxi drivers. I tell my guide in Kanchanaburi the story and he informs me that most taxi drivers can't read and don't know how to read a map so they most likely nodded so as not to lose face with me.
When I arrive in Kanchanaburi, about 7 hours late, the bus station is deserted except for two tuk tuk drivers who quote an outrageous price since I don't have many options and my hotel is out of the way. I agree since I'm so exhausted at this point. Luckily, three Israeli guys get on and I have company for the 15-minute journey in almost complete darkness. A day I would like to forget!
Now for those of you who aren't familiar with Bangkok traffic jams, they are absolutely evil. Gridlock for miles. Overpowering pollution and aggressive drivers constantly honking their horns. So Matt and are sat in a metered taxi for more than an hour before dropping us off at the train station where the plan was for me to hop on a train to Kanchanaburi, near the River Kwai, which was my next destination. By this time, Matt has left to run some errands before flying home to London. Now keep in mind I'm about six hours behind in planning. I arrive at the platform to be informed that the last train for the day left an hour before. By this time, it's night and there are only a few taxis around. I hail one down but he refuses to turn his meter on as he wants to charge me an outrageous fare price. So I tell him to go stuff it and walk to the main road. By this time, I'm so distraught, I find another taxi driver and ask him how much to drive me to Kanchanaburi which is two hours away. He quotes some outrageous amount - 10 times the normal price - and after some negotiation, we agree on a price. I show the taxi driver where Kanchanaburi is on the map and the spelling of the city's name. He nods and off we go. I had this nagging suspicion in the back of my mind that this was just too easy so I kept alert. After about 45-minutes in the taxi, I look up and see a sign which reads "CHONBURI" and I realise, oh my gosh, he is going to the wrong place. Chonburi is in the exact opposite direction to where I'm going. Keep in mind it's still rush hour and I have been in the taxi for about two and a half hours. I'm so tired and distraught and stressed at this point that I call the hotel where I stayed in Bangkok where I know the reservation manager speaks English. She then talks to the Thai taxi driver and arranges for him to drop me off at the bus station where I can catch a local bus to Kanchanaburi. Which he does. So at 10 p.m., I finally leave Bangkok jam-packed in, thank goodness, an air-conditioned bus full of friendly Thai people smiling at me, the only foreigner onboard. I wanted to hug and kiss each and every one of them and then cry on their shoulders about Bangkok taxi drivers. I tell my guide in Kanchanaburi the story and he informs me that most taxi drivers can't read and don't know how to read a map so they most likely nodded so as not to lose face with me.
When I arrive in Kanchanaburi, about 7 hours late, the bus station is deserted except for two tuk tuk drivers who quote an outrageous price since I don't have many options and my hotel is out of the way. I agree since I'm so exhausted at this point. Luckily, three Israeli guys get on and I have company for the 15-minute journey in almost complete darkness. A day I would like to forget!
