Day 5

March 8

Today is our last day in Bangkok before heading up North to Chiang Mai on the night train which leaves at 10 PM. We decided to have a leisurely morning, finally finding some semblance of coffee with some helpful hints from Cousin Danny in Chiang Rai. Check out for the hotel was noon so we slowly started packing our things which have increased and spread around the hotel room.

At this point I came to the terrifying conclusion that I had lost my passport. We tore the room apart, asked around the hotel, and tried calling the Vietnam Embassy which was no help even after two hours and a few skype dollars. We decided to retrace our steps to the Vietnam Embassy only to find that they needed to keep my passport while issuing my visa. At this point feeling very relieved yet exponentially more stupid I ran out of the embassy in jubilation.

We walked down to the mall to get some tasty ice teas, and thought of the fact that I would need my passport up north since we are flying out of Chiang Mai. Panic again, the train, hotel, and plane tickets we booked were about to be out of the picture, and we would have to wait until the 10th when I was supposed to get my Visa. Everything was ruined.

Then we went back to the Vietnam Embassy, they gave me my passport back after some fenageling and told me I could come get my Visa when I return to Bangkok on the 24th, I'd just have to wait for it to be processed.

Sigh of relief.

Not too much energy after my soul was sucked from me for most of the day, and Emma's been a trooper coming along with me to fix my screw ups. So we have been sitting around the hotel lobby since then, drinking some soda, eating some sandwhiches, waiting to go to the train, and writing to you. All together one of the more frustrating days of my life, but I think a couple Changs and nice long cool train ride North will ease my soul.

Another funny note. Thai is a super complicated language which I am pretty hopeless with. I do have Sawatdee (Hello) and Khorp Khun Kha (thank you, or so I thought) under my belt. Little did I know that thank you is Khorp Khun Kha/Khrop changes when its masculine and feminine. I took this to mean you change which one you use based on who you address. But ofcourse I was mistaken as the waitress has just explained to me that men should always use the Khrop ending, and only "Lady-Boys" use the Kha ending, explaining why the ladies always giggle when I say thank you. At least I try, and my two phrases is two more than a lot of people around here.

See you in Chiang Mai!

And now Emma will tell you how dumb I am...

I'm not going to say that Sam is dumb, merely that he had a momentary memory lapse which led to a whole lot of panic and distress. There was definitely a moment there where I thought a fist might go through the wall. All things considered, we got pretty lucky with the way it all worked out. For example, if Sam had figured out the passport was missing over the weekend there would have been no way to get in touch with the Vietnamese embassy, and we may have gotten into the process of reporting it lost or stolen, which from what I can tell is a big pain. Also, because we were able to retrieve the passport from the embassy today, we won't have to change or cancel any of our pre-existing travel plans to or from the northern part of the country.

Fortunately, we are now in possession of the passport and getting ready to head up to Chiang Mai, the natural capital of the northern part of Thailand. I have enjoyed our time in Bangkok immensely, but am feeling ready to move on to the next part of the adventure, and see some other parts of the coutry. I am particularly looking forward to meeting Danny and Lisa and their dogs, who have been kind enough to invite us to visit with them in Chiang Rai in a few days.

Our train departs at 10 pm tonight and will arrive at 12:45 pm in Chiang Mai, a pretty long journey, but I am looking forward to just resting. I've been battling a cold since the day before we left for Thailand (great timing, huh?), and today it really peaked in intensity. I've been feeling pretty yuck. I think a nice long rest on the train will be just what the doctor ordered. Sam has been incredibly patient with my constant sniffling and coughing, and I am so grateful for that. I hope soon I will be back in fighting form.

Farewell from Bangkok, we'll write more when we arrive up north!