I was so excited to take Brian to the Mall on friday.
I have only been once with Tania, and it made me so happy to see a mall like back home!!! Plus there are so many dentists and spas in the mall :) I knew seeing all the "proper" bread places would make Brian happy too!!!
We left sorta late. Brian had to go running first. His normal routine of running on the beach at sunset.
We decided to take the Baht bus. Why deal with traffic? We paid 10 Baht this time!!!! We were made aware that the Baht bus should only cost 10 Baht one way not 20 Baht.
We ate at a delicious Japanese/Sushi restaurant on the top floor. Sooo good and not very expensive by Baht standards either. Mochi Ice cream for dessert!
We walked around the mall for a bit. The smell of rain was wafting into the mall. Brian was getting pretty anxy looking at spa treatments. He wanted to get to bed early because he was doing his Advance Certification tomorrow. I had no idea it was already close to 10:00 p.m. We only got through 3 of the 5 floors! Boo, I didn't want to leave.
As we neared the doors we could see the downpour. Everyone was crowded around the doors and sitting along the outside of the mall covered by the overhanging roof. I already knew getting home would be a struggle in this weather. If the Baht bus does not have passengers they usually will haggle you for a higher fare. I had already experienced this. Brian had not.
We took off into the rain. We flagged down a baht bus. He wanted 200 Baht to go to Jomtien. We got out.
We walked down the street more in the downpour. This is the ideal situation for the drivers to make alot of money in a short period of time. We flagged down another one with passengers in it. He said he was going to Jomtien, but he lied. He took us across the street to the main hub of Baht Buses. We had to pay the 10 Baht. It wasn't ideal, but it was a good location to get dropped off at if it couldn't be our house.
This main intersection was flooding fast! We had to cross two streets to get to the Baht Buses. We crossed over one street and started walking down. The water was up to my ankles. Each time a car would pass, a wave of water would come hurling at you. This is dirty smelly water too, not beautiful clear rain water. The water dramatically got higher. People were walking knee deep in the water on the side walk. I made Brian turn around. There was no way I was walking through that. It would probably be even higher on me!
Alot of the other farang were in the same situation as us. How to get to the Baht buses on the other side, and for us not pay outrageous prices. We starting walking down the street again where it was not flooding yet. We flagged down a baht bus. He wasn't going to Jomtien. Burn. I could tell Brian was getting upset. He wanted to get to bed early and never really wanted to come to the mall in the first place.
We flagged down another Baht Bus - No passengers. Great. He wanted 200 Baht to go to Jomtien too. Awesome... Then, out of nowhere a Thai woman with an old man came up to the bus. They needed to go to Jomtien too. The new deal was we would pay 100 Baht and he would pay 100 Baht.
We took it! We're not dumb. We weren't going to get a better offer than that until after the rain stopped. And there was no telling how soon that would be. I had an anxious boyfriend who needed to get home too!!!!
We got in. The Baht bus turned and started going through the water. I was amazed that we were able to wade through that water. It was nearly up to the floor of the bus. You could hear the engine struggling. I had never experience anything like that before. There were people on their motorbikes behind us. "No way in hell," were Brian's exact words. He was right... How were they able to stay upright and drive? Brian and I would have tipped over.
We passed the worst portion of the flooding and the old man rang the buzzer. The Thai woman looked a little confused too. Shit, we are going to get kicked out and have to find another Baht bus. But, the old man paid the 100 Baht. It did little to calm my nerves. Each time the driver slowed down, I thought we were getting the boot.
The old man got off at another hotel, perhaps his wife was back at the Jomtien Hotel. Either way, I was very grateful for that dirty old man and Thai hooker.
We went through another section of deep water. The usual road we took ahead was closed off. We took a detour. Benefit - We found little India.
Finally, we were half way home. It seemed like forever trying to get home. Paying 100 Baht was seeming more and more like a wonderful price! Having to deal with the traffic and water was worth it. As we neared Beach Road, the flooding started again. We picked up two other passengers on the side of the road. They were so happy to find a Baht bus. Beach road was pretty empty. All the Baht buses were in the city trying to make money.
The driver started to fly down beach road. You could tell he wanted to be back in the city too.
Brian and I made it home. It was still raining. As Brian says, "We had to experience the rain eventually." Next time we will check the weather.
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