I Made At Least Two People's Day

As I was about to leave my guesthouse in Kanchanaburi, I noticed that ants were crawling all over my day pack.  Opening it up, they were absolutely everywhere.  My room had a problem with ants, but mostly by the door and since they weren't really bothering me, I didn't do anything about it.  I guess having left my bag by the door the night before was a bad mistake.  I emptied everything out and got some spray from the guesthouse to kill them all.  Hoping I had done just that I headed off, also hoping that they weren't in my regular pack.  I guess I would find out at my next destination, Lopburi.  Thankfully, there only ended up being a few.

I was dropped off at the bus station and it was a short wait before the local bus took off.  There was no direct bus to Lopburi, so I had to make a connection in Suphanburi.  The bus cost 47 Baht (approx $1.46) and took about 2 hours.  We made a pit stop (not sure where) where 6 vendors climbed aboard offering food.  I was thinking about getting some satay sticks, but was still dubious about street food that I hadn't seen cooked myself.  One of the vendors saw me thinking about taking a chance, so he offered me a stick to try.  It was very tasting, so I bought a bag containing 8 sticks for 20 Baht (approx $0.63).  I really should try more things like this as it is really so cheap and if I don't like something, I can just throw it away.  I guess my main concern is about getting sick, but knock on wood, that hasn't been an issue so far, even with having almost a daily shake that contains ice.

Once at Suphanburi, the ticket guy hurried me off the bus.  My first stop before finding my next bus was to the bathroom.  As I went to pay, I realized that I couldn't find my purse.  Panicked, I ran back to where the bus had let me off, only to find it gone.  I tried to explain to something what had happened, but given that this wasn't a tourist town, it was hard to get across what had happened.  I found out that the bus had already left and one guy motioned to me to get a motorcycle thinking I could possibly find the bus.  I didn't think that this was really a reality.  I don't know if my purse was stolen from me or if I managed to drop it when I was rushing to get my pack on.  Either way, I was annoyed at myself because I should have known better than not to zip up my bag.  Lesson learnt!

Really bummed about my purse, I tried to recollect what all was in it.  I believe the contents to be my Amex card (which I have canceled), one $50 traveler's cheque (which I have called twice but ran out of money both times trying to answer all the ridiculous questions they were asking me.  Why on earth do they need to know the number I am calling from???). I lost my driver's license (which I have to go to the DMV to get a duplicate), about $30 in Thai money and I think about $80 in US money.  Whoever ended up with my purse was going to be very happy!!

Getting onto my next bus, with thankfully a 1,000 Baht (approx $31.25) note that was in my money belt (along with my passport, my visa card and ATM card) I found out that the note was too large to get money back for my ticket.  An older Thai man (I would say in his 60's?) who was sitting next to me had previously started talking to me in so-so English.  He kindly offered to lend me the money for my ticket and I would pay him back once we reached Singburi.  Yup, Singburi, not Lopburi.  I thought there was a direct bus, but I am not sure if that is no longer the case, or if the people at the bus station just got me on the first bus.

Despite not having my purse, I was so happy that this Thai person was helping me out (as I was the only farang on the bus, which is usually the case).  We chatted as best we could, then he started to tell me about how poor he was having to live in temples and occasionally got enough money for a room.  Then he said I should give him 300 Baht (approx $9.38).  I had already planned on giving him an extra 45 Baht ($1.40) for his bus ride and an additional 55 Baht ($1.72) for being so nice.  I laughed at his suggestion, then he laughed and I was happy that we had a pit stop where I was able to get change at the 7-11 (oh I probably didn't mention that they are everywhere, but much better that McD's in my opinion since I can get Malteasers there, ok, not Chrunchies, but still very good!).  I handed the Thai man 150 Baht and smiled.  This was the second person I made happy that day.

For the rest of the trip, I tried to do my own thing, but the Thai man kept asking me random questions, but then it got kind of strange.  He told me that he didn't have a wife and that he loved me and that he was sorry that he couldn't travel with me - like I extended the offer to him??  The last question he posed was if I wanted him to join me in my hotel room.  What was he thinking???

So the bus comes to Singburi and this time it was I that rushed to get off the bus.  Was a good thing to, because if I had been any slower, I wouldn't have caught my bus that was already driving away when I jumped onto it.