Due to some intel I gathered while in Phnom Penh that Koh Phangan may have been severely hit by mudslides last month, and the fact that we couldn't seem to get a hold of the hotel we planned to stay at, we decided to revise our Thailand plan (though since then we have learned all is well in Koh Phangan). After a good nights sleep that we clearly were in need of (slept til 10!), we started the planning process. We decided Koh Samet was a good choice, as it was relatively close and would offer some solid beach time, but wanted to talk to a travel agent. 5 hours, 3 travel agents, and 1 Internet session later, we were booked to travel the next day via "minibus" and boat to the fairly nearby island. Yeah not exactly the most efficient day of our trip, but we had a plan!
With that taken care of, it was time for some Bangkok sightseeing. We had two must-sees on our agenda: Wat Pho and the Jim Thompson House. However it now being close to 4pm, we had a dilemma: which one to see today and which one to save for the one day we have between Koh Samet and coming home? Lucky for us (or so it would seem at first) a Canadian woman made the decision for us. How would we have known that asking a simple question like "do you know where the Jim Thompson Silk Outlet is?" would land us a new BFF for the rest of the day? Before we knew it, there were three of us going from the silk outlet (she did know where that was) to the actual Jim Thompson House. Now new BFF, Sherry, was a delightful woman from BC, but as the day wore on, I found her a little too delightful. As some of you have witnessed, my tolerance for annoying people greatly diminishes as my level of exhaustion increases. So by the time we had trekked across town, only to go in the wrong direction - not once, not twice, but - three times, you can imagine my tolerance level. Everytime Sherry decided to stop to ask for directions, we didn't even have to specify our hopeful destination. Apparently 3 sweating white women could only be heading to one place.
The last tour if the house was set for 5pm and we arrived at 4:55. Yes! Just made it! And it was a good tour. We learned all about Jim Thompson, a man who was apparently instrumental in putting Thailand on the silk making map. And clearly a man with plenty of money to do so: his house, situated right on the river (though surely more peaceful and it is today with the speedboats roaring by), is actually made up of 5 houses, all redecorated in a mix of western and Thai style. He lived there for just 8 years before mysteriously disappearing, never to be found (cue dramatic music). It was beautiful and I'm happy we saw it, even if our journey there with our new Canadian friend was a bit taxing on my patience.
On our way home we faced yet another small dilemma: which way did we come from to get to the sky train? Hmmm... Aha! I remember the KFC! Look for the Colonel, Megan!
Later that night (KFC proved to be the right way) we went out on the town... Ok, maybe that makes it sound a little more wild than it was... We went out for dinner, drinks, amazing dessert, and a shopping trip to the nightmarket (at which we were offered several pussy pingpong shows - not to worry, we declined - and I was called a "bad bad woman, a bitch" - apparently $3 for a pashmina is an unfair price).
All in all though, it was a good day. And the next day we headed out to Koh Samet!
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