Breaking Up

Up about 8:30, showered, packed, checked out and walked to the Thai Cozy House and dad checked in. I got a bus ticket for a night bus to Krabi (700 baht), it leaves at 5:30 this afternoon. Dad used the internet, and he found out he has two inurance options. Most inurance companies won't provide insurance once you started travelling, but he can get insurance from the Co-operators, back charged to when his other insurance ended (March 7). They just need him to call Co-operators in Canada and talk to them in his own voice, to make sure he's not in a vegetable. The other option, suggested by GMS, was that he buy special insurance here in Thailand, and they told him the type he needs. He's going to evaluate the options and also wait on whether he can get a quick flight back to Canada.

We had breakfast at Thai Cozy House.

After visiting Myanmar (or Laos, Cambodia or Vietnam), it feels so good to get back to Thailand. Those other countries make Thailand feel like a fully developed country!!! It seriously feels like coming "home".

After breakfast, dad and I went on a journey to find the Eva Airways office (the airline he flew). We took the river boat to the Skytrain, then the Skytrain to where it intersects with the subway, then took the subway to the general area where the office should be. It's in a tower called "Green Tower", so we came up out of the subway and looked around for a tower that was green. No green towers here.

At all entrances to the subways, Bangkok has officers doing security, checking bags a people go in. So dad asked the officer for help. He wasn't quite sure where Green Tower was, but he radioed someone else and then told us to turn left once we got to the street. He also suggested getting a taxi, apparently it's still a fair distance. Incidentally, the subway in Bangkok is awesome. Just like a subway you'd find in any first world city (London, Sydney, etc.), it's super clean, high tech, and the tracks are enclosed by glass, so no one can accidentally (or on purpose) fall onto the tracks. When the train comes, doors in the glass open up in the same spot a the doors on the train. Very modern, very impressive.

We got to the street and started walking in the direction the officer told us. We walked for 5 minutes and couldn't see anything that could be it, and it was hot, so we waved down a taxi. He wasn't sure where it was either, but he called the Eva Airways office in his cell phone to get directions. Once he knew, it was a failry short drive to Green Tower, which is indeed a tall tower, with much green on it. We could've walked it, but it would have taken a while.

Went inside Eva Airways office, and dad explained the situation, and she checked all the flights through to the end of March, but everything is booked solid. She has put him on standby for the next two flights, and he is to call her at 5:00 on the day before the flights. There's a flight tomorrow, so he is supposed to call her today at 5:00 to see if he can get a seat. She has his request flagged as an emergency, so that preumably puts him at or near the front of the queue.

We caught a taxi back to the subway, then subway->Skytrain->boat->guest house about 3:30. I used the internet, trying to get caught up on all my journal entries, and reading all the emails I ignored because of the crappy internet in Myanmar.

At 5:00, went up to dads room and showered and then dad and I waited downstairs for my bus pickup. Buddy came shortly after 5:30, took a minibus to a small park beside a major road, where me and a whole bunch of other backpackers waited for an hour for the big bus to come. When we got there, there were already two busses there and a bunch of taxi's. One of the busses was loading up other backpackers for a trip somewhere else, and a traffic cop came along. Both busses suddenly vanished, and the traffic cop gave tickets to the taxi'. LOL. I don't think the busses are supposed to be using this park as a bus depot! After the traffic cop left, the bus that was loading up backpacker returned a short time later, and loaded up the rest of the backpackers.

I feel bad for dad, leaving him in Bangkok. But what am I to do? I can't sit around Bangkok with him, while he waits for flights back to Canada. He is used to Bangkok now, and knows how to get around, and he has everything he needs, a tv, fridge, internet, bed, free breakfasts, but still. I would have felt better if I even knew that he did have a confirmed flight, but for all he and I know, he might be sitting in Bangkok for another 10 days before he can finally get out!

Anyway, our bus came at 6:15, and left about 7:00pm. The busses hear at like limo's compared to Myanmar! No more complaints when I have to take a night bus in Thailand.

They tried to play a movie on the bus, but there was something wrong with the video system. I tried to stay awake as long as I could, then started to get sleepy around 10:30......