Monday – Back to Bangkok

With weary head, I’m roused far too early for a holiday once again, and it’s time for a swift breakfast, followed by the long trip back to Bangkok. The minivan is at least air-conditioned, and this time I have the luxury of the whole back row to myself. I contentedly lie down and snooze for the whole journey, the only setback being that my trainers are still utterly soaked with seawater, so I have to wear Martin’s sandals all day. Sandals and jeans may be a lesser sin than sandals and socks, but I’m still all too aware that I look faintly (if not more) ridiculous.

A couple of rest stops provide the opportunity for drinks and cigarettes, but I skip lunch again. I’m certainly feeling healthier though – I don’t know whether it was badly-prepared food or a virus, but I’ve been feeling too rough to fully appreciate things since about Friday. Fortunately the journey passes fairly smoothly (apart from the bumps in the roads, which launch me clean off the back seat more than once), and we’re back in Bangkok in time for dinner. We order Food by Phone again, and I get a hot & spicy pizza in a “cure or kill” effort at rehabilitation. It’s delicious, and I manage to eat the vast majority of it, which is encouraging.

Tets (Lois’s boyfriend and Hannah’s father) is supposed to be playing a gig at O’Reilly’s bar in Sathorn tonight, but just as I’m preparing to head pubwards, I get a text message from Lois saying that the gig’s off. I’m already in the mood for a beer though, so despite there being no gig (and despite Martin and Tik deciding they’ll stay home), I head out to central Bangkok in a taxi anyway, thinking I’ll just drop in for a couple of beers somewhere and relax a little.

I get to Gulliver’s, and only then realise why the gig’s off – today is Macha Bucha – a Buddhist holiday on which no alcohol is sold. Great. I traipse the sois of Sukhumvit, earnestly searching for a single bar serving beer, but none are to be found. After a good hour or so of fruitless searching, I slurp down a Coke in Gulliver’s, and head back to the apartment for a beer from the fridge, then sleep.