You Only Bangkok Once
Traveling brings unique experiences to reflect on for the rest of your life. These could be beautiful memories or close calls... Taking a break from my usual travel synopsis to share some memory-book travel experiences that I realized are worth writing about before I forget all the small details. Everyone who travels surely has more to tell than the picture-perfect snapshots they post... & here is one of my travel stories.
Bangkok, Thailand
Bangkok, Thailand is known for it's World Heritage temples by day and risque nightlife. It is captivating with a intricate balance of extreme poverty, high rises, history, religion and crime. There are a lot of things can go wrong in Bangkok for a traveler like the dreaded Montezuma's Revenge (AKA travelers diarrhea for those lucky enough to be unfamiliar with these things), getting scammed, or pick pocketed. Nick had a day of softball games at a remote field which left me with two options: cheer him on from the hot stands, or spend a day in Bangkok sightseeing on my own with Roman. Given my adventurous attitude, I chose the latter and so off Roman and I went into Bangkok with shopping on my mind.
No smart phone, no problem...
Smart-phones and international calling plans were not our thing until recently, so all I had was my mental notes, an iPad, back-pack full of snacks and toddler ready for a day outside of the hotel room. I was feeling confident in the monorail system to get around town at this point so we hopped on and headed towards a shopping center I had heard about. I did not think to look up what time it opened prior to leaving and that's where things get interesting.
As we hopped off the train and headed in the direction of the exit and mall I was blind sided by a man who started a conversation with me. He looked official enough to be working at the mall and was blocking the entrance and told me it didn't open for another thirty minutes or so. Immediately, I was on the defensive and should have just walked away but became quickly trapped in his game of questions. "How old is he?" "Where are you from?" "Wow, he has beautiful blue eyes and blond hair!"I bypassed a few questions with silly answers such as "We're from Japan" but he became insistent that he knew of a great shopping area just down the road and proceeded to draw me a map on paper. I took the paper, and pretended I was headed that way.
Rookie move.
Instead of turning around and entering the train platform again.. I decided to cross the street and start walking because I didn't want him to see me. As I looked up at the railing above me, I saw the man on his phone looking down at me and smiling. It was suspicious. I started walking faster and was becoming concerned because I could not figure out where to enter the station again because of the busy road being for cars only (no crosswalks).
As I cross an intersection, a man skips up next to me and says "Oh you're headed to the --- mall?" I look at him and said no but he clearly, was informed by his friend at the station I was headed his way. He seemed confused and tried to insist "No, you are headed towards -- mall... you wanted the really good shopping ... don't worry I can take you there..." He was very persuasive but confused as to why I was not following along with him because clearly, he thought his friend had convinced me of the amazing deals that lie ahead. Little did they know, I wasn't THAT naive.
Whatever area I was in, it was not filled with other solo-white-mother travelers pushing strollers...
Looking ahead, I spotted a McDonald's and knew that was my chance to get away. I pushed my stroller faster and when we approached, I broke right and dashed inside. Looking around, I was the only non-Asian inside and knew I would not be blending in. I ran to the bathroom and locked us inside for what felt like ever. When I was convinced I could leave, I ordered Roman a snack and sat down. Still, there were no other Western (word for travelers from USA and Europe) nearby and I knew I would stand out. I was a 5'8" young female with a blonde baby in a stroller in Thailand. I STOOD OUT! I had no clue what this man's intentions were but I knew enough to know, they weren't good.
After a long while, I revised my game-plan to head to a nearby high-end fashion mall we had passed along the way. I got back on the train and headed there. To my surprise, there was a huge aquarium inside. I purchase the all day pass which lets you do all kinds of extra things (like being in a glass bottom boat on the top of the aquarium and feeding the fish.) We stayed ALL day long. If there was one place, I felt safe, was amongst a million other parents and their little ones.
Room service to the rescue
Finally, after a long-and nerve wracking day, we headed back to the hotel for some room service while we waited for Nick to return from his game to tell him all about our day.
I still have no idea what could have happened that day. Was I about to be human trafficked? Was I about to be scammed? Robbed? Maybe there was some crappy shopping ahead but knowing what I know about the struggles in Bangkok, chances are, it would not have been a good ending.
YOBO
Forever the day I refer to as "the time I was almost human trafficked in Bangkok..." & there's a reason why I referred to this trip as "YOBO" because the best was yet to come.... I was about to cap this trip off with a trip to the emergency room...
Bangkok, Thailand
Bangkok, Thailand is known for it's World Heritage temples by day and risque nightlife. It is captivating with a intricate balance of extreme poverty, high rises, history, religion and crime. There are a lot of things can go wrong in Bangkok for a traveler like the dreaded Montezuma's Revenge (AKA travelers diarrhea for those lucky enough to be unfamiliar with these things), getting scammed, or pick pocketed. Nick had a day of softball games at a remote field which left me with two options: cheer him on from the hot stands, or spend a day in Bangkok sightseeing on my own with Roman. Given my adventurous attitude, I chose the latter and so off Roman and I went into Bangkok with shopping on my mind.
No smart phone, no problem...
Smart-phones and international calling plans were not our thing until recently, so all I had was my mental notes, an iPad, back-pack full of snacks and toddler ready for a day outside of the hotel room. I was feeling confident in the monorail system to get around town at this point so we hopped on and headed towards a shopping center I had heard about. I did not think to look up what time it opened prior to leaving and that's where things get interesting.
As we hopped off the train and headed in the direction of the exit and mall I was blind sided by a man who started a conversation with me. He looked official enough to be working at the mall and was blocking the entrance and told me it didn't open for another thirty minutes or so. Immediately, I was on the defensive and should have just walked away but became quickly trapped in his game of questions. "How old is he?" "Where are you from?" "Wow, he has beautiful blue eyes and blond hair!"I bypassed a few questions with silly answers such as "We're from Japan" but he became insistent that he knew of a great shopping area just down the road and proceeded to draw me a map on paper. I took the paper, and pretended I was headed that way.
Rookie move.
Instead of turning around and entering the train platform again.. I decided to cross the street and start walking because I didn't want him to see me. As I looked up at the railing above me, I saw the man on his phone looking down at me and smiling. It was suspicious. I started walking faster and was becoming concerned because I could not figure out where to enter the station again because of the busy road being for cars only (no crosswalks).
As I cross an intersection, a man skips up next to me and says "Oh you're headed to the --- mall?" I look at him and said no but he clearly, was informed by his friend at the station I was headed his way. He seemed confused and tried to insist "No, you are headed towards -- mall... you wanted the really good shopping ... don't worry I can take you there..." He was very persuasive but confused as to why I was not following along with him because clearly, he thought his friend had convinced me of the amazing deals that lie ahead. Little did they know, I wasn't THAT naive.
Whatever area I was in, it was not filled with other solo-white-mother travelers pushing strollers...
Looking ahead, I spotted a McDonald's and knew that was my chance to get away. I pushed my stroller faster and when we approached, I broke right and dashed inside. Looking around, I was the only non-Asian inside and knew I would not be blending in. I ran to the bathroom and locked us inside for what felt like ever. When I was convinced I could leave, I ordered Roman a snack and sat down. Still, there were no other Western (word for travelers from USA and Europe) nearby and I knew I would stand out. I was a 5'8" young female with a blonde baby in a stroller in Thailand. I STOOD OUT! I had no clue what this man's intentions were but I knew enough to know, they weren't good.
After a long while, I revised my game-plan to head to a nearby high-end fashion mall we had passed along the way. I got back on the train and headed there. To my surprise, there was a huge aquarium inside. I purchase the all day pass which lets you do all kinds of extra things (like being in a glass bottom boat on the top of the aquarium and feeding the fish.) We stayed ALL day long. If there was one place, I felt safe, was amongst a million other parents and their little ones.
Room service to the rescue
Finally, after a long-and nerve wracking day, we headed back to the hotel for some room service while we waited for Nick to return from his game to tell him all about our day.
I still have no idea what could have happened that day. Was I about to be human trafficked? Was I about to be scammed? Robbed? Maybe there was some crappy shopping ahead but knowing what I know about the struggles in Bangkok, chances are, it would not have been a good ending.
YOBO
Forever the day I refer to as "the time I was almost human trafficked in Bangkok..." & there's a reason why I referred to this trip as "YOBO" because the best was yet to come.... I was about to cap this trip off with a trip to the emergency room...
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