Both serendipitious and unforseen happenings seem to have graced our trip so far. Time and again our hides have been saved by the unsolicited help freely and kindly offered by many gracious people we met during our short travel in Thailand. Things have a way of sorting themselves out of any mess and often the best thing to do when we were at a loss about what to do is to just smile, look blur and in need of help.

Upon touching down at Suvarnabhumi Airport we were quickly confused by the signs and were struggling to find a way out of the airport and to Mo Chit Northern Bus Terminal. We asked questions and found out that taxi was the best way to the terminal. We hopped onto one and were on our way. The taxi driver, being the resourceful person that he is, began asking us about our travel plans and destinations. When we mentioned that we are going to Sukhothai, he made an offer of 4000 bahts to drive us to Sukhothai, which he subsequently reduced to 3600 baht after we expressed our lack of interest. A fee of 4000 bahts was to put it mildly, stopping just short of robbing us, since a first class bus ride there costs a mere 350 baht per person.

At that point of time I was pretty peeved and suspicious of the taxi driver for trying to exploit our seeming lack of experience and knowledge (”Bus leave 9 o’clock, taxi travel fast, cheap!”), but his actions after we reached Mo Chit Bus Terminal made me look at him in a different light. Immediately after reaching the terminal, his first reaction was not to get us to pay him money. Rather, he went out of his taxi and strode over to the bus ticketing counter for the Bangkok-Sukhothai route to enquire on our behalf the price of tickets to Sukhothai. He told us the price and aided us in the purchase of tickets, and warned us about drivers who cheat tourists of money.

His actions would seem rather paradoxical, since he seemed to have swayed from being exploitative to being a really kind man, and this incident to me set the tone for our trip and the prevailing nature of our experience so far. Shit happens but good things happens too, and both things happen when you least expect them to happen. We are often the benefactors of unsolicited, random acts of kindness by locals, and when things don’t go well, somehow they straighten themselves out after a while.

One really special person was this lady and her husband who offered to take us all over Sukhothai town looking for a guesthouse to stay in after we reached Sukhothai New Town at the decidedly ungodly hour of 2300 on Wednesday night. The streets were totally empty by then when the bus driver stopped along a row of anonymous shophouses, went out of the bus, took our luggage out of the bus and said “Sukhothai” to us before driving off. We were lost, because we had no idea where we were at that time since we planned to arrive at the bus terminal and the bus driver have taken the liberty to leave us just before the Sukhothai bus terminal (there, another random bad event, ha!).

We enquired about the location of nearest accomodations at the 7-Eleven we saw, but we were only provided with vague directions. Just when we wanted to try our luck and walk in the opposite direction of the bus route, a Thai lady asked us in broken English where we wanted to go. We told her we wanted to get to Ban Thai guesthouse and she asked for the map in our guidebooks. She studied the map and I was thinking that she would give us directions to the guesthouse. Instead, she beckoned us to hop onto the back of her pickup. That was the point where we felt that we need not be resigned to sleeping on the streets for that night.

As you might have guessed, shit happened and Ban Thai was fully occupied when we reached there. We were so happy and ready to stgay there that immediately after reaching we took our luggage out of the pickup and bade farewell to our kind benefactors in our own mangled Thai version of “thank you”. At that point of time we were fully prepared to just say thank you to the kind couple and roam the streets in search of accomodation. Instead of just leaving us there, the Thai couple asked for the map and asked us where we want to go looking for guesthouses next.

As you might have guessed again, we were unable to find accomodation at the other places recommended by the guidebook. I told the lady that they should just leave us at a hotel nearby where we are almost guaranteed of a place, but she instead insisted that it was too expensive for us to be staying at the hotel and started thrashing out options with her husband regarding possible places to go look for accomodation for us. Her husband recommended Phuaroon Guesthouse (We have never heard of it, since its not listed in the guidebook) and we went there immediately after.

The place was totally dark by then and when we knocked at the gates of the guesthouse, there was no response. Once again our hearts sank to the ground but miraculously, the lady’s husband whipped out his handphone and started dialling a number. We heard a phone ring from a room somewhere in the guesthouse and a lady in her 50s emerged from the house. The couple started conversing in Thai with the operateor of the guesthouse and soon after that we were inspecting a room at the guesthouse for serviceability. The kind lady repeated told us in hier broken Chinese that it was okay if we find it to be unsatisfactory or too expensive as she will help us find another one.

We did not reject the offer since the room was in immaculate condition and the price was reasonable. On top of that the guesthouse had a back door entrance to the bus terminal (this was something we discovered the next day). The Thai lady was happy that we manage find accomodation and instead of leaving us as we are, she gave us her home phone number to call just in case we needed anymore help. We thanked the Thai lady profusely for her efforts in helping us, before she disappeared into the night in her pickup with her husband.

Serendipitious? I would have to say yes. And this has reinforced my belief that good things do happen and bad things do not last long. I would have to say that it is such experiences that makes backpacking worthwhile and memorable.

Day 2 of the trip and we’re all settled in Sukhothai. Today we explored the old city, once capital of the eponymous empire. The modern town is small and rural, but that this was once a great city is very much in evidence from the ruins we saw. Pictures will go up when it is more convenient.

Day 2 has been rather sedate compared to Day 1; we nearly ended up sleeping on the streets and were only saved by a couple of extraordinarily kind locals. The full tale, perhaps, will come when we have more time.

This is just to let you all know that we’re safe and having a ball of a time in Thailand. Hope everyone is fine at home too.

Well, I’m typing this at the airport… we’re leaving at last. Wish us all the best on our trip, and see you lot in a week with hopefully a suitably enthralling account of our travels.

Till then.

Misfortune seems to have plagued this trip even before it even happened. First it was the coup in Thailand, then the floods, Zihao going for an operation and now part of Chatuchack burned down. Hopefully nothing else significant happens during the trip.

Seems a rather gloomy opening paragraph, but trust me I am in pretty high spirits looking forward to the trip. Everything is packed properly and I have a long shopping list. If any of you guys reading this blog wants me to get anything, just email me; I will try to read my email at least once daily.

Speaking of packing stuff, I have brought a minimum amount of personal items along. One long pants, one shorts, three shirts and a pile of disposable underwear., on top of the essentials like toiletries and of course, a good book. Its Orhan Pamuk’s My Name Is Rose. Plan to read it on the plane trip and the bus trip to Sukhothai and back. If there’s not enough clothes, I will just buy and wear as we move along. cw is doing the same too, don’t know about roger though.

Tomorrow would be pretty exciting, primarily because we have absolutely no idea when the bus for Sukhothai departs from Bangkok tomorrow, and hence we have no idea when we will get to Sukhothai from Bangkok tomorrow. Oh, there is also the little problem of not having a hotel room booked at Sukhothai for our stay. That is because all the guesthouse we contacted don’t check their emails, and they have no website. We might have to spend the night in the ditches. haha. ha.

Keep your fingers crossed, eyes opened and hopes up guys.

This trip is gonna be fun.

Sadly, due to my eye operation, i won’t be able to go for the trip any more.

The details are: I asked my doctor today whether i could go travelling next week. He said ‘no’, and added that if it were the following week, it would be ok. cruel twist of fate, no?

 to ask for one year of better fortunes - was what u wrote in your blog, chunwee - but no, couldn’t even get one day. at any rate, i wasn’t asking for a year. but so what, i didn’t get anything but a surgery on my ord working day. if this weren’t my life, i might prob be laughing at it. maybe i am.

thank you to everyone who has supported me through my pre-op trauma and post-op phase and continue to do so, esp. those i’ve pestered with tonnes of phone calls. it sounds - no, it IS - cliche but at painful times like this one realises what’s impt after all - and realises too that he has known it all along…

Enjoy your trip guys =) I do wish that we’ll be able to travel together in future