Run Around

Day 386
I was starting to make some progress and decided that I would treat myself to some aircon mall time and maybe a movie. I wanted a cab but none of them would use their meter so I decided to walk. Then I was offered a tuk tuk. The way this works is that you pay a very small amount if you agree to visit and spend 10 minutes in a few different stores that give drivers commission just for bringing you.

The first place was a jewelry show. I never knew how boring this could be when you have 10 minutes to kill and several sales people following you around. The next place was a tailor shop. Around 4 minutes in the woman realized that I wasn't going to buy anything and tried to rush me out. I stayed and she got pretty irritated with me. My driver then said that if I stayed for 10 minutes in a travel shop that I could have the ride for free. This was awful. I tried to ask as many questions about Thailand that I could come up with, even ones that I knew the answers too. At one point the guy started demanding a 200 baht deposit for I don't know what. I tried to tell him that I couldn't buy anything until I chatted with my friend who couldn't come this time because she was sick and I asked for his card. He told me that they didn't do that and then threw me out!

I was miserable when I left and then the tuk tuk driver further irritated me when he tried to take me to a market instead of the mall I wanted. He then tried to get me on a motorbike but I refused. I wanted him to be just as miserable as I felt at the moment. Eventually he paid anther tuk tuk driver to take me to the mall. Once I was there I saw Knowing, it was really bad.

Getting back was bit of a problem as it was raining and there weren't any cabs. In the end I had to bargain hard with a tuk tuk driver to get back. This was when I ran into Amy and Julie and got the rest of the camera story. After calling home for a bit I tried to meet them for a drink but they were confused about the bar (I found out later) and after having one alone I went home.