Back to Bangkok

I slept in after my long day. I planned to get up and catch either a bus or (preferably) a sleeper train back to Bangkok. It was not to be. Since I dawdled around for so long, everything was pretty much booked. That left me with the option of the night bus, which left at 7:30 pm. This meant I had about seven hours to 'kill'. (You know, I hate the phrase "killing time", it sound so vulgar. As Dion Boucicault said, "Men talk of killing time, while time slowly kills them." So I suppose I'll say I had seven hours to 'fill'.)

I filled a good two hours with a Thai massage, another hour a green tea smoothie. I then went on a stroll around town, and stopped by all the English bookstores. (If you want to really know how sad I am, I actually thought, "Wow! When I travel, I'm never alone because I run into my friends everywhere." (My friends being the books. Definitely a social lowpoint for me. Feel free to laugh at my expense.)

I boarded the bus and sat down, and a few minutes later and interesting sort of fellow sat next to me. He had a footlong beard twisted into dreads (which he periodically nibbled on), an old-school Chinese farmer style queue on the back of his head, tattered shorts, and no shirt. Unfortunately, it had been quite some time since his last shower. I immediately took action by smearing my hands liberally with Passionfruit scented hand lotion, cupping my hands, and sticking my nose deep into the safe air pocket. Fortunately, he relocated five minutes later to sit next to a friend, leaving me with two seats to myself. I caught four hours of good sleep, so it wasn't a bad ride.

I'll write more later.