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Bangkok Joyride
- Monday, February 02, 2004 |
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After grossly underestimating how long it would take to get to the train station, we missed our overnight train down the Thai peninsula to Had Yai. We thought that 1 hour would be plenty of time for our cab to navigate the 6km distance to the station. No Way! This is Bangkok traffic and we missed the train by 10 minutes. One of the info desk employees who saw our disappointment and look of panic in our eyes, called over his buddy to help us out.
Our tickets weren’t refundable or changeable, our new friend tells us no to worry, he’ll get us to the last Bangkok train station with time to spare. Before we really knew what was happening we were firmly planted on the back of a pair of scooters holding on for dear life. Bad day for M to choose to wear a skirt as she had to sit side saddle. Dave had to watch out for his knees to keep them from hitting rear view mirrors as the scooter zipped between trucks, busses, and cars. Motorcycles and scooters weave through Bangkok traffic like busy bees zipping around.
With big packs on our backs and smaller ones on our fronts we hung on to our fabulous Mario Andretti style drivers. BTW – the temperature was approaching 100 and rather steamy. The 20 minute ride was thrilling. I can’t imagine taking a cab or Tuk-Tuk to get somewhere in a hurry. I can’t tell you how many times I thought my backpack would knock off someone’s mirror or if I just reached out my hand, I could touch a bus on either side of me. We made our train with 10 minutes to spare. Paying these guys their extortionist price was better than buying new train tickets and waiting around Bangkok another day, and much more fun.
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