This morning I discovered at this hostel there is complimentary toast, jam and tea till 10am. It has been so long since I had toast and jam, so much so that I didn’t mind the tea was Lipton and the toast was complete white flour. The day time receptionist’s name is Gevaleen. She’s quite resourceful, very helpful, nice, and friendly person. She helped me on the phone to book a place to stay for the next two on two different islands in southern Thailand. She was like my personal travel agent and she was fun to hangout with too.
After taking the details for the next two weeks, I made it out the door around 11am for the weekend Chatuchat Market. Ray from San Diego, Cal joined me. We bought a one day Sky Train pass that gives you unlimited rides for the day thinking we would still have energy after the shopping to play more. I had planned to only see and not buy anything at the 6,000 stall weekend market. My goal at the market was not to go on a shopping spree but try good local food.
The market turned out to be, well everything you can find and everything was cheap. I ended up spending lots of money with Ray. He was shopping for Christmas presents and shipping them back. There were discounts to buy things in quantity where the price was negotiable. So it served both of us purpose to team up and buy things together. I spent about 1,200bht on nine articles of clothing. Everything at the market was mostly size 4 or smaller and no larger than B cup. At one point we ended up going in circles trying to locate a shop we had come across earlier but Ray didn’t stop to get what he wanted and couldn’t remember where it was. We were given shopping strategic instructions before we arrived which was to write down stall numbers so that you know how to get back to it. Well, we obviously did not follow those instructions. After spending an entire afternoon shopping we were both fried and headed back to the hostel to unload all the things we bought.
I headed out to the street stall to have papaya salad and stir-fry flat noodles along with 4 cups of freshly squeezed juices. I love how the food portions here are tiny compared to US. A group formed at the hostel where we pretty much all hung out together. It was such a sight to see everyone walk together on the street. It looked like a well organized group where everyone knew each other since birth or something. The groups past time activity was to drink and smoke in the terrace on the roof top. I decided to pack my and repack and repack my bag again. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to leave my bags here and pick it up later or take it with me. If I leave it here, it would me I would have to come all the way back here to pick up my bags but that would me light travels for me. If I take my packs then I would have more things to lug around, I’d be more tired but I could go anywhere at any given moment.
I met Amy from England who was also planning on going to Krabi and talked me into buying a plane ticket that was twice the amount than a bus ticket. Well, I bought my ticket online before the windows closed and Amy ended up drinking in the roof and didn’t get her plane ticket. So now I have a plane ticket she talked me into getting to go with her to Krabi but she was no longer going on the plane but by bus. It was all a bit silly. I also learned that the airport was far way from the docks where I would catch a ferry to Ko Phi Phi. I had to arrange to hire a driver because I would miss the 9am boat to Ko Phi Phi and would have to wait for the sunset boat instead. Well, my original plans of taking the bus turned into a plane. I don’t have housing and I heard it is a bad idea to arrive so late at night because all the places would be taken. Oh well, everything happens for a reason and its really about my journey in the process and it was never about money.
