Briathrail // Albert 2MNG

Back to the hotel

It’s another hour of riding in a not-party vehicle to Bangkok. All of us were tired and looking forward to the welcoming embrace of our hotels.

So I spent lots of time looking outside the window, seeing the light of the sky turn dark and the road starts getting less provincial and more highway-ish. We briefly stopped at a gas station for fuel, toilet break, and a stretch.

After an hour of travel, we arrived at our stop: ICONSIAM. We then parked to a designated area near a food court entrance, lined up for a group shot for the “insurance”, thanked the driver and our tour guide Visan (wished him the best of health for many more years), and went our separate ways. Day 2 in Ayutthaya, done.

So now, my problem was I need to get to BTS Nana station from ICONSIAM. I looked for a helpful train station sign inside (and maybe look for food too) but no sign. And as it’s the first day of CNY, far too many people were inside the mall that night, and the food court section was packed. No thanks. So I sat down somewhere away from the food court and plotted my path with Google Maps. Survival tip in the unknown metro, sit down first to plan stuff.

It recommended me to walk 1.5 kilometers to the “nearest” train station in the Silom line, Saphan Taksin. Horseshit, first thought. This ain’t Yaowarat Road. This is a prime triple-A among-the-best-in-Thailand mall, from what I researched. Surely there’s a means for public trains here, or else I’d be disappointed.

So I went and looked outside, and lo and behold I saw a train line. Hmmm, to where, maybe? I saw “Charoen Nakhon”, it’s a BTS train line but with a gold coloring. Gold line, perhaps? So I googled deeper, and I came away impressed. So this specific train line was opened just in 2020, only three stations, and served as a connecting link between the BTS Silom line and, yes, the ICONSIAM mall. So I typed in “Charoen Nakhon Station”, and lo and behold, Google Maps finally recommended a train path that did not recommend me to walk that far. Just a few steps and transfers.

So from there, it made me ride one station towards its connecting point, Krung Thonburi Station, from there I went to the next connecting point, Siam Station, then from there I switched to the train that went to Nana. Nice.

Once I got onto the street near my hotel, I dropped by the 7-11 for the following things:

• Sprite Zero
• Another can of iced coffee. Previous coffee was Nescafe, I then tried another that wasn’t Nescafe.
• Three sandwiches. I bought a mentaiko, a crab mayo, and an egg spread sandwich. I was eyeing the microwaveable ones, but I am a lazy man in the mornings a lot of the time and I am the last man anyone will want fiddling with a microwave without a manual at 6AM in a sleepy stupor.
• One chocolate pudding.
• One USB-A to Lightning cable. I had an impromptu cable buy as I only had a USB-C to Lightning cable, my Anker charger finally got drained, and the hotel’s USB-A ports were too weak to charge the charger.
• Another pack of mints.

I rushed ordering as well, because there was this white plump American woman who was being a full blown Karen at the poor 7-11 guys that could speak little English. I was eager to go before she starts involving bystanders to resolve her issue. She had problems with her purchase of a local cellular service top-up, likely she fumbled the instructions somewhere given the cards were primarily using Thai language with minor English translation, but given her unreasonably overbearing and confrontational attitude, I am sure the Thai personnel were lost as to where to start with helping that woman. The only funny thing I heard was she kept pronouncing “baht” as “baat”, long A sound.

So when I got back to the hotel and went up to my room, first order of business was to charge my 10% phone. Then I got changed to a comfortable pair of clothes, put my used clothes in the washing machine to run, and prepped my dinner.

The Thai sausage called sai ua was superb. Can taste it was homemade, as the ground meat wasn’t consistent and had amazing texture. It also threw my palate into overdrive. I tasted turmeric, garlic (lots), chili skin, some lemongrass I think, definitely galangal in there, the other flavors were too complex for me. But this was a sausage that can be independent of any sauce. Popping one in with basil, cabbage and a bite of chili was great. Salad in the mouth, maybe. The pork basil rice was also terrific. But it also had some big chili slices (maybe that stall was a sell-to-all one). Went well with the now-warm chicken legs. Those were also great. Grilled on charcoal always impart a smoky taste. Probably was basted with lots of soy sauce-based marinade, because those legs did not need a sauce. Sufficiently seasoned, with a hint of spice and sweet. Three takeaway Ayutthaya meals in and, whew. I am full. Tired, close to burping, not yet sleepy. So I kept watching TV for a while (I had it on NHK). Long shower afterwards to wash the dirt off my arms and face.

And then, a bit more TV before I got sleepy at around 11PM. Rubbed more Tiger Balm ointment on my poor feet before sleeping. All in all, was an awesome day. Crossed one off my list. I got to see a lot, but in the future, maybe I get to see more.

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So, this time, February 10 was for me, a very adventurous day. I put my trust in a tour company to take me around a rural part of Thailand and it delivered nicely. No way I could’ve done or managed that trip on my own. Got to see the very nice things around Ayutthaya for a day, all that for an affordable price.

Because usually, for the places I’ve been to, the only place that could’ve counted as “non-metro” was Nara in Japan, but Japan has excellent train lines that can take one far out and back in easily. So this one, Ayutthaya, was my very first one that I had to be shuttled from the metro to the province.

So I highly recommend people booking day tours going from Bangkok to Ayutthaya and back. Again, I might’ve lucked out by booking at Klook and landing a tour company that does their job very well, there might be others that weren’t as good as the one I got twice in a row. So if I come back to Thailand, I’d be looking for them again at Klook, for I’d know I’m in good hands and in for a great time. For reference, look for “TTD Global“. They may be a big tour company, but clearly they employ some of the best tour guides out there in Thailand.

And it gave me more confidence to try out more tours by companies in places I wouldn’t dare do on my own. I’ll see. My next target might have less of it though.

So what did I learn more for the new day?

• Again, do not lose sight of your tour guide. Especially on a rural-area trip where your margin for mistakes are slim. When I met our tour guide that day, which was Visan, I took his contact number on Whatsapp, took a picture of his face and memorized it. I never lost sight of him in the parks as well.
• If you can sense the tour guide is managing the time strictly, try to honor it by making an attempt to be in the meeting point on time. Don’t be the asshole that could force the tour guide to shave minutes off the next itineraries because you took your sweet time going back. If time is up, at least have the courtesy to walk towards the meeting point while taking last-minute pictures.
• Keep an eye out for water bottle vendors in parks. They could be somewhere. Anticipate your thirst. I drank 6 again today, maybe 7 with the dinner.
• Respect the history of the places you’d go to, minimum, by not contributing to the ruins. Walk gently, don’t run on the stairs, don’t sit on the ruins especially if you’re fat, don’t pick up loose bricks.
• You’d sweat a lot, so bring an extra handkerchief or a gym towelette with you. Maybe also avoid black shirts so that sweat stains won’t be visible.
• Google Maps is a friend, but like most friends, it can recommend crazy things sometimes. Falls on you to sense or gauge your options if Google recommends something unsatisfactory, like for example, a long-ass walk.
• As with anything that involves long stretches of walking activity, investing in a very good pair of walking shoes helps a ton. Basically the difference between you able to leisurely walk to the hotel and you booking a taxi because your feet are done for the day by sundown.
• When it comes to foreign vendors, remember, they are as wary of you as you are of them, if you know zero of Thai. Just remember to read the signals, context clues, and always return a wai. I found that the locals were more appreciative when I returned a wai back than when I use “sawasdee khrap” or “khaawp kun khrap”. Maybe it’s just my observation though. They know hand gestures too, just use your hands to point and show how many.
• Heat protection helps! Don’t underestimate the Thai sun.
• Always check your hotel USB ports if they can charge. To be sure, just bring a universal plug adaptor and use that. I forgot mine, the one I bought in Seoul. Would’ve saved me a few baht.
• XL-size (and above) items will often have a price difference in Thailand. Very few exceptions.
• If you sign up for Klook-hosted tours by different touring companies, keep your Klook as a phone app. Log in, and always know where the booking number is. Or if that’s too much, keep the email receipts. Those have the booking number as well.
• Just saying, if you know of a potential Western tourist in Thailand and they have known anger issues with interacting with customer-facing personnel, please advise them to try Europe first. Maybe UK as well. Or Australia. They need to see where their horse-ass attitude will take them in countries with people that will push back before they start visiting any of Asia.
• Also a last tip: if you booked at a hotel with no nearby breakfast joints or local morning eateries, buy your breakfast in advance. Sandwiches hold up well in the fridge.

Next and last part: My Feb 11 day, and flight back to Singapore. That one was just mostly in one area, and more chilling at the hotel. Some photos too. Can’t wait to recount that and finish this one 🙂

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