Day in a Life: Bangkok

Author's note: The primary purpose of this report is to demonstrate how one's day might be equally spent in life maintenance along with sightseeing. It also shows the degree to which mistakes rule how you roam.

I walked from my guesthouse to nearby Wat Ratchedamoen, which I hadn't had a chance to really explore yet. After looking around, I hunted for the nearby canal boat stop, managed to find it, and without really understanding where the boats went, got on one, figured out how much to pay, and sat back hoping I'd recognize something about where I wanted to get off. My intended stop was Jim Thompson's House, now a museum, but despite what my map seemed to indicate, this particular boat didn't stop there and went well past it to a stop that I did recognize, so I got off there. Thus I changed the plan.

I had intended to go to the Vietnam Embassy that day anyway, so I figured out where it was in relationship to where I was and hopped on a bus. Except that the bus map wasn't quite in accordance to reality -- or my understanding of it was not -- and instead of turning down the road that the Embassy was on, it kept going straight. I got off as soon as I could, but had to walk back a considerable distance. But this turned out to be a good thing since I passed a place that sold the most delicious coconut tart I've ever had (fortunately, coconut is one of the Thai words I had mastered). I also passed a camera store, which I thought would allow me to take care of another piece of business, but they were not able to repair the camera. The shopkeep, however, told me where to go to get it fixed.

When I arrived at the Embassy, there was a sign that said that the embassy was closed until 2pm that afternoon, without any explanation. I was annoyed, especially since the original day's plan would have had me at the Embassy in the afternoon if I had gotten the right canal taxi! But I was accepting. I learned later that afternoon that the reason for this closing was that there had been two bombs found on the grounds early that morning!

I reviewed my options and decide that I was reasonably close to the travel agency where I needed to go to pick up some plane tickets anyway, so off I went. This activity went faster than expected, so it was too early to return to the Vietnam Embassy. I again reviewed a map and decided to go to the Jim Thompson House to fill the time. I took the tour, enjoyed it fine, and then realized that I could take the "Skytrain" back to the vicinity of the Vietnam Embassy.

But while walking to the Skytrain, I passed the building where the camera shop guy had told me I could get my camera fixed. I was delighted by this unexpected bonus -- I hadn't expected to find the shop so easily -- and went in to the building. It turns out that the buidling is an enormous, and I mean enormous, shopping center. Miraculously, I find the camera shop, but they tell me they don't do repairs! I decide to take care of some other business, and hunt for thread (I find it -- the pantomine to explain what I needed was amusing), Woolite or some small bottle of detergent (I don't find it and decide to stick with bar soap and or shampoo as I had ben doing -- you'll recall I left my half-used bottle of Woolite in a hostel in Australia!).

At a certain point I remember that I haven't taken my malaria pill yet and open my change purse to retrieve it, but it isn't there. I can't take the pill on an empty stomach (as I learned from extreme nausea one day), so each morning I put it in the change purse with the idea that when I go to pay for my first meal, I'll see it and remember to take it. I tear the purse apart, check all my pockets and any other likely place and can't find it. But I know I put it in there that morning. And you know I can't stand not knowing what happened to it. I determine that it fell out when I was paying for the coconut tart that morning.

Finally, I leave this vast shopping mall and hop on the new and easy to negotiate Skytrain to go back to the Vietnam Embassy. When I walk down the steps from the Skytrain, I realize that I'm right near the coconut tart stand. How many can fill in the next sentence?! Yes, that's right, I'm so compulsive I walk the few steps back to the coconut tart stand and there on the ground -- smooshed -- is the bright blue of a malaria pill. Even though I now have the worry of trying to remember to take a new one whenever I get back to the guesthouse, I feel very smug that yes, I did know exactly where it was!

At the Embassy, I am told that I can't simply change the dates on the visa I so painfully acquired in Washington, DC. (Who knew that when they said on the form "proposed" dates of travel, they were going to hold you to it?!) So I have to reapply and pay extra money to have it expedited since I leave for Cambodia in a few days. Fortunately, I have extra passport photos with me -- the guidebook that told me to do that will be eternally blessed! When I returned a few days later, the woman behind the desk scolded me for not being "better organized" when I explained that this was just a date change. That was a preview of things to come in Vietnam.

That business done, I head back for the hotel, but stop to do some shopping on the way, desperate to find a lightweight shirt that allows me some coolness while being culturally correct -- a tall order. I don't find one, primarily because my size and Thai sizes are not comparable. I am disappointed because it is so beastly hot.

Back at the guesthouse, I say a word of thanks that I decided to spring for air-conditioning, even if the toilet only flushes by throwing water down it. I shower for the second of what will be three showers that day, and dress for dinner with an Omani man that I met in an Internet shop the week before. We wander around the seafood restaurants and finally settle on eating at a sidewalk vendor, discussing world issues. He remains interesting, the food is good, and I even remember to take my malaria pill.

And that is a day in the life of Wander Woman.