The Power of the Almighty Camera!

I received an email from a fellow traveler a few weeks ago. On a journey through Laos his camera had broke, and it completely changed his plans and rerouted him, looking to get it fixed and then buy a new one. I didn't think much of it, though remember thinking whether a broken camera was really that important, enough to halt a trip and change a travel plan?

Well, when my camera broke yesterday I calmly enjoyed the rest of a wonderful day in Ayuthuya, figuring that when I returned to Bangkok in the evening I would figure it out, no biggie. I silently lauded myself for my composure and secretley denounced travelers who could be so encumbered by the fate of a broken camera. Not me I thought.

Well, arrogance has a funny way of laughing at its possessor. The next 48hrs turned into a crazy saga of traveling around Bangkok, looking for a way to get my camera fixed. I found two official Olympus repair shops. One didn't pick up the phone and the other shop gave me directions a could just barely understand. They were located about 10km away from my hotel, I figured a nice 30-45 minute trip on the skytrain and taxi. Well 1hr later the motorcycle taxi dropped me off on a street corner and pointed in a direction. I walked through the 95 degree heat, came to a dead end and turned around. I tried another street and then started asking with hand signals for directions. Well not to make the story too long, 2.5hrs from my departure time I made it to the shop, sweaty, tired and extremely frustrated. I took out my camera and instantly I new they were not going to be able to fix it. I was given the address for the other shop and kindly offered a glass of water and a place to sit for a few minutes.

I hopped in a cab to set off. I made the mistake of sitting in the front seat. Maybe such a gesture in Thailand is an expression of interest? I don't know why I sat upfront, but 5 minutes later I was asking the cab driver to drop me off after he just reached his hand for my crotch. It was the first time and hopefully the last that this has happened. I found a motorcycle taxi and a few minutes into the drive could smell whisky wafting off his body. Exhausted and defeated from what was now a horrible 4hr saga, I took the hope and pray route and figured he probably drove drunk on a regular basis and even ratiaonalized that maybe he was a better motorcyle driver when drunk. I thought to myself, "could this day get any worse?" And right away realized that if this motorcyle where to crash, the day would get a whole lot worse. That indeed there were for worse things in life than difficulty finding a place to fix a broken camera! Amazingly though, all of this for a camera!

The other shop needed 30 days to fix it and so I opted to send it off to get it fixed under warranty and purchase a new camera. I purchased a "shock proof" one that will hopefully buffer against another saga like this one.

Travel plans altered and actually all for the better as my next entry will reveal. I try to keep in mind that things happen for a reason, that I will be exactly where I'm supposed to be, at exactly the right time.