We went to the 3rd floor of the building, which houses the Legalization department. We got a number, got called to the front, but needed another paper to fill out at information. Doh! We went to the info booth, filled out the paper, then got another number. Since we didn't have the time to do it regular (2 days), we did it express (2 hours). We went back up when our number was called, gave the lady our paperwork, and paid the 1600 Baht fee (800 each for express). Then we had to wait about 2 hours.
We decided to do lunch in the cafeteria there, since Sarah accidentally smuggled a knnife into the office building (we would get searched/metal detectored when we re-entered). But that was fine. The cafeteria was good. Like the one from yesterday, you buy coupons, and use them to get food. Main dishes were about 30-35 Baht.
After lunch, we went back upstairs, picked up our paperwork which was ready early, and decided to explore our way back into town since we had time. From the office we started walking to the Lak Si train station. It looked like not too many farang went to this station. All of the schedules were written in Thai script. Plus the area around there were neighborhoods next to a canal.
I tried to read the schedule for "Hualamphong", but could not make out any word resembling it. So I went up to the ticket window, used the little Thai that I can speak, and got us 3 tickets for Hualamphong for a total of 12 Baht. The tickets said "Bangkok" on them. Sean pointed out on the train schedule the time. I tried to read the script, and it didn't say Bangkok. Instead, it said "Krunthep", which is the Thai name for Bangkok. I was pretty excited that I actually figured that out.
We had over an hour till the train came, so we decided to explore the area by the canal. It was a neighborhood with small alleyways and a few shops lining the street. It was reminiscent of walking down the alleyways of Stone Town in Zanzibar.
There was so much character to the neighborhood -- life as it is in the outskirts of Krungthep. A few vendors selling foods from the front of their houses, a few people walking around, dogs laying in the shade in the heat of the day, people playing checkers. We continued on in the maze of houses and then worked our way back to the station.
The Lak Si station was fairly quiet. A few people on both sides of the train tracks. Cargo waiting to be delivered northbound -- a cart overflowing with wicker baskets, exercise equipment, some electronic equipment.
The train arrived at Lak Si around 1:33 pm. We boarded -- hot and sweaty. We sat by an open window, but we were facing the wrong way to receive the wind. The ride back to Hualamphong was hot, yet wonderful. There is something whimsical about riding trains -- the people, the sights.
We looked around the Hualamphong station, and after some thought, we went to the advance booking station and got 5 tickets for the overnight train to Chiang Mai. With the current smoke situation in Chiang Mai (wildfires cropping up from the slash and burn agriculture, will be declared a state of emergency), Sean thought it best to be in Air Con (the appeal of second class fan was that you can open the windows) -- so we got tickets for second class air con, and got 4 upper berths and 1 lower berth (that was the best available).
Afterwards, I called my dad, who told us to meet up at the hospital. We figured out the subway, and then connected over to the BTS Skytrain to get close to the hospital. The system is very modern and very nice -- similar to subways in Europe (although expensive for the average Thai person).
Dad is very proud of the hospital, so we took Sarah for the tour. And just like yesterday, we went back to Soi 5 restaurant, pigged out on good Thai food and watermelon shakes. As always, old farang men with Thai girls at that place. But dad likes the food there.
After dinner, we dropped Sarah off and then headed back to the Atlanta. We had about 15 minutes to rest. Then were off again to the airport -- a 3rd night in a row -- to pick up Sean's parents. We asked the receptionist if she could call a taxi for us. Hungry for a commission, she said they charge 450 Baht for a taxi to Suvarnamabhumi airport. Knowing that was a blatant ripoff, we just walked toward Sukhumvit road and caught the first taxi we found...
1 comment:
Oh, the bureaucracy! ;)
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