1806 Now I am not there, will say was at Foresto Guest House for first two nights in Sukhothai, and Garden House next door for the third.
Also, for the record, the Garden House wifi did work in the restaurant when I was having breakfast, but it didn't work in the reception (in the same room) the previous morning. Such is wifi.
2057 Finally came out 2045ish. Walked up street. Decided to go to Mestizo but it turns out they have drinks only, so have come to Bai Fern restaurant next door for food first. Will probably go back to Mestizo after this, it wasn't exactly heaving but a bit of life and this place seems a bit expensive. Some dishes on menu 300 THB, which to be fair is hardly super expensive, but more than am used to. I am going for a green chicken (or did I order pork? can't remember) curry and rice at more like 100. Being a bit stupidly stingy but WTF. Just having a coke zero here.
Smothered myself in insect repellent before coming out, since that nurse said border areas can have malaria. I suspect this is silly but wtf. The locals don't seem bothered about being outside. Also, isn't malaria not such an issue in mountainous regions? (Not sure it's exactly mountainous here, but it seemed fairly so on drive over.) Burma/Myanmar may well have malarial areas, but that isn't to say the area across the border is one. Oh well, I have done what I can. If you're a well-off local do you just take malaria medication continually? Do you move away? Or is the risk relatively small? I genuinely have no idea.
Guys at next table talking about Bitcoins.
2116 Virtually inhaled that but actually very good, portion size decent, pleasantly spicy.
2125 Got bill, 125. Made it 155 with tip, waitress stood over me after giving me the bill, which I really hate but it may be cultural, no idea. Anyway, let's see if I can find a quiet spot at Mestizo.
2129 At Mestizo, went in and up to bar and indeed a sign says at bar cash only today, no bill. Not a problem. Got 630ml bottle of Leo for about 70, didn't count change. Offered ice but I declined, bottle is not super chilled so maybe I should have taken some. This wasn't on health grounds, I just prefer beer without ice if possible.
Have table for four outside (not much space inside) and feel a bit 'greedy' but couple of guys just left so another table is free. Meh.
Oh, did a bit of laundry earlier but the bathroom sink is ultra loose on the wall and 'tips' at the slightest provocation, so it was a bit hasty and crap.
0115 OK, looks like I'm on the streets for the night. I met some Thai/Burmese chaps at Mestizo, the main one of whom was a Burmese chap called Tun (sp) who was celebrating his IIRC 32nd birthday. (I think he was the one who invited me over.) Super nice chap and I think he has immigrant type concerns and is all for the children and feels Burmese get looked down on. He bought me a drink, I tried to buy him one about midnight and he insisted on getting me another, despite my trying to rope staff into explaining. (We were the only ones there.) He won't be out tomorrow night despite my asking, I think his brthday was a rare drinking bout. His English wasn't great but what a nice chap. I said goodbye and said my hotel was just down the road, as it is, he caught up with me on his motorbike and insisted on giving me a lift. I got off a few seconds later at what I thought was hotel. It wasn't. Dogs *in the street* baying nastily. I doubled back. Everywhere had its fucking signs taken in. I figured I'd walk back up and be clued in when I got the hotel wifi. Noooh. Before I get that far there is a fucking dog in the street barking nastily. [For all I knew hotel wifi was down, sign in room says it is off from 11pm-midnight and maybe they're not too precise, or it was a random outage.] I didn't take a GPS fix on the place because it was (is) just down the street. So I seem to be completely fucked. Man, I wish I had a gun right now. I'd blow that fucking dog's head apart if it tried anything.
Oh, I checked before I left hotel they were open all night. Some chap would open gate for me if it was shut. Am sure that's true if I could actually get there. If I was super confident where it was I might brave the dogs but this was a bit fucking grim. I am not that drunk - 4 bottles 630ml 5% - qv lack of spelling mistakes.
I am even desperate enough to pay data roaming charges in quest of information but it appears not to want to work anyway.
0128 Trying back way approach, if nothing else kills the time. Got a text from T-Mobile, who want to charge me twenty quid for 3MB. I think I'd rather spend the night on the street , or see if I can find another guesthouse for the night. Did I ever say I despise mobile networks and their customer gouging? Oh yes, I probably did. I shall spend all night thinking it. The only thing saving T-Mobile from the horror of losing my custom is the fact EVERY SINGLE NETWORK IS AN EQUALLY ROBBING CUNT.
0153 Spoke to guy at Bai Fern, he obviously thought I was a twat, he didn't have a room, agreed with me my hotel was just down road, couldn't or wouldn't call a cab for me. Wandered down that way again, no sign of their wifi or the place in signs. A dog sauntered out of a side street and admittedly didn't go ape but felt very exposed and headed off down adjacent street back to centre.
Some dog barkery later I am in reception at what may be the First but no one is here. I am happy to wait, all night if necessary. Their wifi password is on wall and I have nicked it, my hotel doesn't exist as far as internet is concerned. If the phone boxes had doors I would just hole up in one of them. This fucking bites. I cannot put it solely down to dog fears, even if - I feel excessively - they are all deemed irrational the hotel has apparently ceased to exist, despite it being sufficiently obvious I found it just walking down the street earlier.
This is a complete fucking joke, except I'm not laughing. FFS, I wasn't even heading back that late.
I should husband battery. Internet says sunrise is in 4.5 hours, so dawn should kick in in about 4. Let's go out and see what else is about and keep this as a reserve option.
0208 Fuck-a-doodle-do. Spied the something Porn hotel opposite. Clearly not farang-centric as check in form in pure Thai (oh, and I am not sure the guy at desk spoke much English, I made 'head on hands' sleep gesture), but got a room (air con no less) for 300 THB. I could have paid ten times this. Super not happy. I am reluctant to blame the other hotel just yet, but at the same time I knew damn well it was just down the road and not a sign, there is no question I got lost, only possibly that I didn't go far enough and I'm pretty sure I did. Tipped bloke who showed me up 20, don't know if he expected it. Not sure if they are surprised at someone, let alone a foreigner, showing up at 2am (relatively) sober and alone and without luggage, but fuck it. What a fucking pisser of an evening after such a great (if I-wish-I-could-repay-gratitude-esque) start. Still, the banker's solution has come through eventually, and I could have travelled further and paid a lot more.
I should go to bed but fuck it, tomorrow is a write off, this is why we have contigency days. They gave me a metal jug of what turns out to be nice cold water.
The one half-condoling-half-disturbing thing is that being fluent in Thai would have make exactly fuck all difference tonight. There were cars/bikes in the street but no cabs. I suppose had I been fluent I might have flagged someone down and done the distraught 'act' (wouldn't have really been an act), but otherwise a complete non-issue.
If there is a lesson, and I know I can't trust my phone GPS, it has to be 'take a GPS reading of the hotel no matter how superfluous it might seem'. That, along with the other night's "don't not go for a piss in the bar because your hotel is a few metres away" seem like small but valuable watchwords.
I am in room 405 at what the key fob says is Porn Thep hotel. Nice (twin) room for 300 Baht, I must say. The night has been horrific (only a slight exaggeration) but financially not so bad, this plus other hotel has cost only what I paid at Foresto in Sukhotai per night. No obvious wifi but you can't have it all. I should obviously go to bed soon anyway.
0227 OK, bed. Kudos to me for at least having plenty of cash for emergencies like this. If I didn't already say I toyed with spending night on street and there were areas which felt dog-free, but I couldn't find anywhere to hole up - the phone boxes have no doors - and I really didn't feel that secure, otherwise I would have done. Don't get me wrong, given my actual hotel was a write off am super glad to have paid 300 for a dog-free room with a bed, but I wasn't sure anywhere existed, finding this place was sheer luck. Oh, also to be clear, the thirty second motorbike ride (my first ever, and what doubly memorable circumstances!) made no difference, I knew where I was and I knew where I thought the hotel was, I just couldn't find the latter.
0242 Really, bed.
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