No money... Literally

June 28

12:07pm

Oy vey. I am so tired ha. I really should just sleep but there's so much I want/need to do. And it seems so silly to me to just do nothing when I am in Bangkok.

This morning I didn't want to get up. I set my alarm for 7am... Then snoozed til 7:45am. I finally got up since I was meeting Sankar at 10am so he could show me a laundry place. I wasn't sure how long it would take me to get there so I wanted to leave by 8:30am.

I grabbed my laundry (which at this point is pretty much all the clothes I brought with me) and headed off. I stopped at the desk to ask about going to Ayutthaya but it was 2,500 baht. I decided I would go look on Khao San Road later to see if I could go for cheaper in a group. The guy at the stand was annoying. He wanted me to book and pay now and I kept saying no and that I didn't have the money and then he wanted to drive me to an ATM and I just said no and walked away. He then proceeded to chase me down the road. SIR! I DO NOT WANT TO PAY THE MONEY! I told him I was late and would be back later if I wanted to book it.

I jumped on the metro and then the sky train and got off at Siam. I wasn't entirely sure where I was going after that. It was nice that I had been in this area for a while yesterday with Laura because that definitely helped.

I studied a map for a while. Then gave up and asked someone. The map Sankar had sent me was hard for me to read because it was on such a small scale (there weren't too many surrounding buildings or roads) that I wasn't sure which way it was oriented. I asked a few motorbike drivers and a security guard and finally figured out which way to walk. Then I saw the Siam motor company building which was on the map and the road but again, I was not sure which way to turn down the road. So I just started walking. I walked all the way down a university road until I found someone to ask and of course, it was the opposite way. So I walked all the way back down the road and to the street. Crossed the really busy street and continued walking. There was a princess hotel that I passed that was also on the map. Then I saw a building that was called Saskin and that was also on the map so I turned left there (off of Soi 12). I saw Sasa House which is where Sankar is staying but there was a gate around it and I wasn't sure how to get in. I walked past it and asked a woman and she just pointed... Thanks. That was super helpful. So I walked back the way I came and then saw an entrance. The building was really nice and had a lot of international flags at the front. I figured I was in the right place since the sign for Sasa house had said international Sasa house. I made it! And with 20 minutes to spare! At least I wasn't 30 minutes late though!

It was very good I wasn't 30 minutes late because Sankar took me to the laundry place at 10am and then headed directly to class. If I would have been late I wouldn't have made it. The laundry place is a student dorm laundry area. It's so cheap! I'm so happy he showed it to me. Like I said it was almost all the clothes I have and it was only 70 baht! Definitely the cheapest of anywhere I've been previously. Maybe similar to Sihanoukville in Cambodia...

I'm meeting Sankar again on Sunday for dinner so that will be nice. I headed off to the mall (right near the skytrain) to see if I could find an Internet cafe. I went into Siam discovery and they said to go to paragon. So I got there and it's literally huge. Walked around and found an information desk and they told me the Internet cafe was downstairs. I still couldn't find it. There are a billion places and its not like there are just 2 sides and you walk down the middle. There are restaurants and shops and stores in the middle and there are way too many ways to walk. I ended up needing to ask 2 more people (information and a lady working at McDonald's) and then I found it. Sadly, it was 80 baht per hour and that is a lot so I skipped it. Ill find one somewhere else.

Then I tried to sit down and plan out the next few days. It's actually hard because I have to be back in the Siam area almost everyday this week. Tomorrow evening I need to get my laundry, then I meet Sankar Sunday, and then I get my passport Monday. I kinda planned things out and checked to make sure things were open on lonely planet on the days and then left. I figured it would be better to head back to the hotel and head out to Khao San road to make it to the post office and book a tour. I might get a massage too.

Next day

Well, yesterday turned out to be a fun one!

I didn't go to Khao San Road after all. There is a g adventures person stationed at a desk downstairs. Thank god ha. That was really nice actually. I asked her about the post office and there is one right down the road from where I am staying. She wrote a note saying take me to the post office near the train station and told me to get a cab because it was hard to explain how to get there. I didn't want to get a cab because they're so annoying to deal with. They never want to use a meter. So, I walked.

Walking down the street with a bag is my least favorite thing. You already get bothered because you're white to get into a cab or a tuk tuk. With my bag I was practically assaulted to get in a cab or on a tuk tuk or on a motorbike. AHH GO AWAY AND LET ME WALK!

So the post office was kind of far away. Not too far but I definitely had trouble finding it. I asked a bunch of people. And once I turned down the street it was on, I had no idea if I had to turn again or if it was on this road.

It was good I had the note written in Thai asking them to take me to the post office because down that street very few people spoke English. One lady actually got really freaked out and walked away from me the second English came out of my mouth. The street also smelled terrible. Like horribly rank. Like shit and piss and vomit. My nose wasn't too happy to say the least.

Finally I got to the post office and that was a little foreign too. Everything was in Thai. And the people only spoke a little English. I literally was shuffled from one desk to another. The only thing is there were 4 desks that all did the same thing and one table where you packed your box. So I was at the desk and then at another desk and then sent to pack the box (which was a struggle as well. The first box they gave me everything didn't fit into so I had to unpack it and repack it again in a larger box) and then sent back to the desk. They wouldn't let me pay with a credit card. It was about $55 to ship it by sea freight and it will take 2 months. So it will arrive after I do! I sent it to my house, so hopefully were still living there. Ha.

So after going back and forth between the same desks for a bit, the package was finally shipped. I headed back and made sure to put my headphones in, but I was still bothered by people.

I knew I needed to take out money but I wasn't sure how much so I ended up skipping the ATM and heading back to the hotel. I talked to the g adventures rep again and asked about day trip options to Ayutthaya. There was an option to go and it was with a group and it was only 850 baht (instead of alone and 2000 baht). So I booked that and told her I would come back later and pay because I didn't have enough money on me at the moment.

I went upstairs and chilled for a bit and then I decided to go get money out. I opened up my wallet and immediately started cursing in my head. My ATM card was gone. I had all my money, my ID, my credit cards. No debit card. I emptied everything out of my day pack... Not there. Went through all my bags... Not there. Searched my big bag... Not there. Well fuck.

I went back downstairs and told the g rep I had no money and what had happened. I told her I could pay in usd or that I could wait a few hours and talk to my parents and figure out what to do. She was really hesitant about me paying in USD because she had that happen before and ended up having to pay what was lost in the exchange out of pocket. She said I could pay before the 30th.

I went back upstairs and checked my bags again... Not there. Then I decided there was nothing else I could do at this point and I laid down and relaxed. I did check my account to make sure there weren't any recent transactions on it that weren't mine.

I sent mom a text and dad an email but it was like 4am their time. Jenn was on Facebook so I asked her to call dad. Finally she got ahold of him and he said crap and that he'd be at the office soon.

Then mom and dad were both on the phone with schwab and dad gave me a number to call them from Skype and it was really confusing because I was getting information about what to do from so many people and I kept telling them I had talked to schwab but they weren't reading what I was saying correctly. I cancelled my card but mom had put a hold on it just before that and o man. It was a mess.

She was going to try to get a pin for my credit card so I could take out money. So I guess I had my chill day... Too bad it wasn't too relaxing.

Also, literally every time I walked past the taxi stand at the hotel (which you have to do anytime you enter or leave the hotel) the guy came chasing after me to book a trip with him to Ayutthaya. I tell him no every time and that its too expensive. I know he understands because he keeps lowering the price when I say that but oy. It's so annoying.

The only thing I can think of that may have happened to my debit card is that I either accidentally shipped it home in the package, that I dropped it somewhere, or that its stuck in the pages of my passport but I thought I had it after I did my passport.

Fail. But what's traveling without a few disasters?