Day 167 Leaving Bangkok

23rd March 2009

Leaving Bangkok

Day167

Oh my God I'm so hungover. Check out of the guest house by 10am and went for a full English and a cup of tea to make myself feel better. Must leave Bangkok today - it's so hectic and too much for me right now. Apparently it's best to ignore all the tuk-tuk drivers and touts on the street when they talk to you or strike up a conversation, but I can't. It feels too rude (although here culturally it isn't) and right now I'm drained. Plus all the disabled and disfigured people begging in the streets, lying on the floors in busy areas and the feeling that everyone is trying to rip me off (tourists are walking cash machines - everyone wants a withdrawal). I need to move on.

I waited for a bus to the coach station after I had had my breakfast, but it was so hot and the bus never showed up so I took a taxi. There was so much traffic and I'm sure I turned green. The taxi man was amusing enough. He asked me to guess his age. He looked about 50 odd but I said I didn't know how old he was. He then told me he was 30 years old. There is no way he was 30! I'm sure he ripped me off but once I was at the coach station I didn't care and ran into the toilets to see my breakfast in reverse. It wasn't pretty.

Felt better and got the coach to Ayutthaya. It felt so good to be out of Bangkok. Once in Ayutthaya I got out my map and tried to work out where the hell I was when a man came up to me and asked if I needed help. I said no as I was sure he was trying to sell me something. A few minutes later he came back over and I accepted his offer of help and he pointed me in the right direction. Great! Not everyone is a scammer.

Got to the guest house and noticed one guy staring at me then he asked if I wanted to get some food from the market so off we went. His name was Toby and he was from Australia. He seemed nice but was a bit awkward and when he opened a bottle of water he managed to get most of it on himself. We planned to go out tomorrow and split the cost of a tuk-tuk.

Had a great night sleep on a mattress on the floor of a very cheap room that smelt very strongly of paint.