A Premature End.

So now the explanation.

This was on Tuesday. The friday before I had called Northwest Airlines from the train station in Ayuthya. I was wondering about the details of moving my return date forward. As far as I'd known I had made no commitments. The circumstances were difficult however, as Thai public telephones differ little from any other public telephones in your ability to hear the other end. This is only complicated by a language barrier, and even more so by the deafening roar of trains only several feet behind. What I got out of the conversation was that I would need to call back next monday to find out the details, as the office in Thailand was closed on weekends, and the office in the U.S. had already closed, as it was night there.

So as the weekend wore on, and I became more accustomed to travelling alone, etc. my need to move my flight date forward was diminishing slightly. So I didn't even call on monday as directed.

When Tuesday came I decided I should probably call and find out the details I had inquired about. I'm still not sure what would have happened had I not called back. But I would definitely still be in Thailand, though perhaps with no way to return home. So, I called Northwest Airlines and asked for Bang An, as directed. She quickly proceeded to tell me that she had changed my return date to July 5th at 6 a.m. it was July 4th at about 11 a.m. and Chiang Mai is a twelve hour train ride back to Bangkok. Obviously I had not anticipated this, or I would have likely been in closer proximity to Bangkok international airport. I told the woman where I was, and that I wasn't even sure that I could be in Bangkok by 4 a.m. the next morning. To which she replied that if I wanted to change it again, she would have to charge me for the first date change and then once more for the second date change. I didn't know what to do, so I told here I would call back in an hour.

Now, this was perfect. Never before have I felt so much force against my will. I don't believe in fate or divine intervention, but between leaving my passport at in the copy machine in Yelm on the way to the airport, and the big confidence boosting cold sore, and then this wonderful misunderstanding, I was starting to get the idea that something wanted me not to be here. I was coming to understand my fate, and that required me to return, and perhaps I was never supposed to get on the plane to begin with.

Of course that's mostly silly. But that was the way I was beginning to feel. And it's only mostly silly because if it all happened the same way again with all the misfortune, I would still choose to do it. It was a truly interesting experience, and I'd learned a lot in a week and a half. Despite the complications I do plan on giving it a second go.

And back to the story. So I returned to the guest house and gathered my things. I needed to see if I could actually make it to Bangkok on time. I had no train reservations, no bus reservations, and didn't know if there would be any room on any transportation back to Bangkok by 4 a.m. The woman who ran the guest house that I was staying at was very helpful though. She called the train station and told me that it was unlikely that I would make it by train. And she instructed me to go the bus station. She even wrote down directions for a tuk tuk driver so that I would have no problems getting there. I made it quickly to the bus station and tried to figure out how to navigate the terminal. As with everything in Thailand, being vigilant and cold-shouldered wins over the chaos of many smiling competing individuals trying to sell to you what you need. I don't know if I got a very good deal, but as I new my journey was ending money didn't really matter. After some confusion I found a bus that would get me to Bangkok's bus terminal just after 1 a.m. So I called back the Northwest Agent and confirmed everything, and got my flight information.

And I had a couple of hours before the bus left, so I decided to take up one of the many happy individuals trying to sell tuk tuk rides, and find somewhere to buy some souvenirs. The adventure wasn't over yet. I wanted to buy some silk scarves to take home. I'd seen them at the night bazaar for an advertised price of 80 baht. Which means of course much less than that. But unfortunately, the word "scarf" is not an international word. I managed to find the key words, "Thai Silk," which one of the tuk tuk drivers friends recognized, and I agreed to go somewhere. Unfortunately this one was likely also my own fault, fortunately, I'd stopped caring about baht. So I'd read about these "silk factories" out of town that you could get dragged off too, where they pretend like they make the silk there, but really only sell you very overpriced goods, under the auspices of authenticity. The dilemma was this, however: I was apparently being skirted away via my own volition. If it had been a tuk tuk scam, I don't think the driver would have had to stop to ask for directions. And so when I say I stopped caring about baht, that doesn't mean that I was willing to pay 1300 baht for an 80 baht scarf, what I mean was that I was willing to tell the tuk tuk driver to take me back into Chiang Mai, which would mean a more expensive ride.

I had him take me to the place where the night bazaar was held, despite it being the middle of the day, I knew there would be some merchants open. And the ride that should have cost me 60 baht ended up costing 200 baht. Nevertheless, I quickly found what I was looking for. They were a little more expensive than I'd seen, but I I managed to talk 120 baht per scarf down to 100 baht per scarf, or 5 for 600 down to 5 for 500, reasonable enough. I also picked up a t-shirt and a wooden Buddha statue for myself. And with a little bargaining, managed to get reasonable prices. The bargaining is actually quite entertaining. I ask for the price and say, "Oh, I don't have that much money." And they say, "How much you want?" And I say about half the price they said, and they laugh at me. Eventually we work things out, and everyones happy. Its a much more lively way to shop.

And then it gets blurry. I spent the next 34 hours travelling, by bus and cab and plane. And got 1 hrs sleep in 48 hours. I met a kind Thai gentleman on the bus who immediately took it upon himself to be my guide, until he fell asleep. And managed to outwit some men selling non-metered taxi rides. And had a lot of time to think, though my mind wasn't quite functional enough to do so.