009. Bangkok: One more time with feeling
To round off the trip (how did it go so fast?) we spent a couple of days back in Bangkok, eating, wandering and - most importantly - buying 14kg (we checked) of souvenirs for family and friends between us.
Notes from Bangkok the second time around? It's interesting to revisit places at the tail-end of a bigger trip, if only to note to shift in your own perspective. Food we'd previously gushed about now seemed distinctly average, and the overwhelming-ness of some districts now felt entirely normal.
Moving around the city felt easy, and the weather entirely manageable. My hair was fine! We wore flip flops in Chinatown with no fear!
Case in point about 'the magic' too - when we were picking up our night bus from Krabi Town back to Bangkok, we'd been waiting at the bus station for about an hour, watching the world go past and having a drink. With about 25 minutes to go before departure time we thought we'd go check in, walked up to the desk, and were promptly told we were in entirely the wrong place. Not just the wrong bus stop, but the wrong part of the city. No stress though, because a different lady behind a desk grabbed her phone, called a number, walked us out of the entrance to a waiting car (where did that come from?), bundled us in, spoke to the driver, and we were whisked straight to where we should've been - no questions asked, no money requested, just a smile and 'bus goes from here'.
Don't doubt the magic.
