Today I really wanted to go to Rayong. I missed my chance yesterday because of the whole card situation, so I woke up hoping today would finally work out. The banker said they would open the ATM machine to check if my card was inside. I must have forgotten it there a few days ago. I only noticed yesterday when I looked in my purse and it was gone. That ATM was the last place I withdrew money, and I never used the card after that, so it seemed like the only logical explanation. She told me to call at 1 pm, even though she also mentioned they would open the machine at 11 am, which honestly confused me a bit.
Olga is leaving tomorrow, so today she went to the North train station to buy her bus ticket from Jomtien to Bangkok Airport. I walked with her because I wanted to check if there might be a bus to Rayong from there. The station is only about a ten minute walk from our hostel. When we arrived, there were just two counters, both with signs saying they go to Bangkok Airport. The line wasn’t too long, so I decided to ask anyway. The woman at the counter told me I had to go to the Big C South bus station instead.
I went back to the hostel and asked again just to be sure. The receptionist kindly made a few calls for me and eventually found out there is only one bus per day from Jomtien to Rayong, and it leaves at 8 am. Hearing that made me feel a bit helpless. My timing just seems to keep missing everything.
After that I went to the bank, expecting they would tell me they had found my card. Instead they said they didn’t have it and that they had already checked both machines outside the bank. I walked out feeling pretty defeated. If it wasn’t in the ATM, then where on earth could it be?
Back at the hostel lobby, just when I was sitting there thinking about what to do next, my phone rang on WhatsApp. I had given the bank my WhatsApp and email earlier since I don’t have a Thai phone number. I didn’t recognize the number but answered anyway. It was the banker. She casually told me they had found my card and that I could come pick it up. I felt such a wave of relief.
When I arrived at the bank, I asked the same lady why earlier I had been told the card wasn’t there. She either didn’t understand what I meant or just ignored the question because her answer had nothing to do with it. By that point I was too tired to care. I was just happy the card existed and hadn’t disappeared into some mysterious ATM dimension. After a bit of paperwork, I finally got it back.
Later I walked around the neighborhood to see if there were other hostels nearby. Staying in the same place for more than a week is starting to feel a little boring. I found two hostels close by. One was 200 baht and the other 220. Both were honestly pretty terrible, although one at least had a proper sink in the kitchen. My current hostel doesn’t even have that. If you want to wash dishes, you have to do it in the bathroom sink next to the toilet. In the end I decided my place is still slightly better, so I’ll stay another night and decide tomorrow.
Most of the afternoon I just stayed on my bed with my laptop working.
In the evening Olga and I took a songthaew to the second hand night market called Buffalo Market. It only cost 10 baht. The bus was packed with foreigners, mostly Caucasians. At one point Olga loudly said to me, “It’s all Russians on this bus!” right in front of all the Russians.
The night market itself was quite big and full of interesting things. I mostly just wandered around looking for something cheap to eat. I can’t really buy anything anyway since my backpack is already full and I don’t need more stuff.
Before Olga and I split up, she told me that further down the road there was another section of the market(Thepprasit Night Market) with stalls selling only new things and lots of food. After walking around the second hand area for a while, I went to check it out.
The part selling new things didn’t interest me much, so I mostly just walked through it quickly. One stall caught my attention though. They were selling earrings and had a banner offering ear piercing. I’ve been thinking about getting a second piercing for a while. One piercing was 150 baht, or 300 for both ears. I stood there for a while debating with myself because my cash is tight and I can only really pay by card.
When I finally reached the food section I felt much happier. I love markets like this, especially the little stalls selling fresh snacks. I ended up buying quite a lot of food. After spending around 100 baht I decided that was enough. It was already more than I usually spend in one go.
So I took a songthaew back to the hostel and spread all the food out on my bed like a small feast.
Accomondation: AUD9.50 via Agoda
Breakfast: 15 baht cash at the market
Lunch: 36 baht via card 7 Eleven
Dinner: 150 baht
Transport: 20 Baht
Additional: 60 Baht
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| Thepprasit Night Market |
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All the food I bought from Thepprasit Night Market
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At second hand Buffalo Market
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| Buffalo Market |
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