Days 260 – 261: Bangkok – Part III
Our short trip to Cambodia was awesome – we if could do it all again, we’d stay there a lot longer and explore outside of Siem Reap. Unfortunately, the “Asia portion” of our trip was coming to an end, and we had to return to Bangkok to wrap up a few things before our long journey to South America.
Our flight back to Bangkok was short and easy, but as it was scheduled for the middle of the day, it limited our ability to do any sightseeing. Instead, we made plans to meet up with Pim – a former Best Cellars colleague of Lindsay’s – and have a little dinner party in our hotel suite! Even though traffic from the airport was practically gridlock, we had just enough time to run to the tailor for Igor’s final suit fitting and pick up some groceries before 7PM. We spent the rest of the evening catching up on the last *seven* years since we had seen Pim, and getting an insider’s introduction to the world of Muey Thai kickboxing.
Grabbing lunch and getting some work down in the Executive Lounge in the Siem Reap Airport
Farewell, Cambodia!
So glad to be back in the Oriental Residence in Bangkok! It feels so much like home, Lindsay decides to play hostess and invites a friend over for a little dinner party!
Our last day in Bangkok was busy with last-minute errands before our South America trip. We had decided to take a road trip to Patagonia when we go to Argentina, but when we looked for a rental car, we discovered the only 4×4 vehicles available were manual transmission. While flying down to Patagonia was an option, the route down to southern Argentina was supposed to be breathtakingly beautiful – we didn’t want to miss it!
How hard could it be to drive a stick shift anyways? Igor found an English-speaking driving school in Bangkok, and asked about lessons – the instructor suggested we could learn the basics in 4 hours – DONE! We took the metro to the end of the line and caught a taxi to the driving school (we were about an hour late for our appointment as we stopped to shop for shoes and got horribly lost due to Google Maps’ wildly inaccurate directions) – sure enough, after 3 hours of practicing in the school’s closed course, Igor was able to hold his own in Bangkok traffic! Sure, he stalled the engine about half a dozen times, but he recovered quick enough – bring it on Argentina!
Taking the Bangkok Metro, as traffic in the city is a nightmare
SHOES! We get distracted by a store selling second-hand dress shoes for men – only USD $3! *Exactly* what Igor needs for our upcoming cruise’s formal nights – now he can wear one of his new suits, and we don’t have to bother shipping the shoes back to the States
Driving around an obstacle course for about 4 hours, learning how to drive a stick shift
Our instructor was a “tiger-lady” teacher – she kept screaming at Igor in broken English, “Put clutch down ALL the way! You stall car! Put in first gear! You stall car again!” Basically, she showed Igor how to shift, drove around the course once, then switched seats and made him do it. After riding with us for about 15min, she gets out of the car, saying, “I go teach someone else now. You practice. Don’t drive too fast.”
So, back when we were in Krabi, Igor got two cuts on his right foot when he stepped on some sharp shells and rocks on Railay Beach. Two weeks later, the cuts still hadn’t healed and were looking pretty nasty. Igor was convinced they were infected (Lindsay told him he was overreacting, and that he just needed to stop suffectating the wounds with bandaids and let them air out so they could scab over). He looked up the cost of visiting the ship doctor when we get on our cruise next week – not cheap. If there *was* a problem with his foot, he figured it would be less expensive to visit a doctor in Bangkok, so after we picked up Igor’s completed suits and dress shirts, we walked a few blocks over to Bumrungrad International Hospital to see how long/expensive an appointment would be.
Guys…this hospital…was AMAZING. After this experience we can totally see why medical tourism is a thing, and (God forbid) if we ever get seriously sick, we are totally coming back to Thailand for treatment. Let’s start with the hospital building itself – the place looked more like an upscale hotel than a medical center. The receptionist in the lobby greeted us with a smile and told us we first needed to visit the 10th floor to register as a new patient in order to get an estimate on wait time and price estimate. We were a little wary of the multi-step process, figuring this was going to be a huge waste of time, but it turned out to be extremely efficient – we took a queue number for the next representative (just like if we were at Zabar’s cheese counter!), and when two guys tried to cut in front of us in line, the hospital rep took no time telling the guys that we were next and they had to go take a number (I swear – Thailand is the anti-China!).
After Igor was registered (he got an ID bracelet and everything!), we went directly up to orthopedic surgery (yeah – totel overkill for a little cut on his foot, but the hospital rep said it would be cheaper to see a specialist as we would get charged for each doctor visited) – estimated wait time was 15min and price range was anywhere from USD $30 – USD $150, plus cost of medication. Just…take a second to let that sink in. Can you IMAGINE walking into a doctor’s office without an appointment or an emergency room in the USA and getting this kind of service? Oh, and the waiting room had complimentary bottled water, juice and tea.
By the time the doctor saw Igor, we got our bill, bandages and paid, we had been in the Bumrungrad hospital for just under and hour. The total cost of the visit was USD $60 (when we get home we’re going to try and get our travel insurance to reimburse us J). What was the diagnosis? Not infected – stop wearing bandaids and let it dry out and scab over. THANK YOU, DOCTOR LINDSAY.
Friendly, informed, and efficient service at the Bumrungrad International Hospital in Bangkok
We returned to the Oriental Residence around 7PM for our final night in Thailand. While Lindsay repacked our bags and cooked our last quesadilla dinner, Igor ran out into the city one last time to pick up some cheap camera accessories for our upcoming dive trip in South America. Thailand – you have been the easiest, safest, and friendliest country in our southeast Asia adventures – we can’t wait to come back!
MBK Center – the mall that has it all! Igor finds all the odds and ends on his shopping list while Lindsay packs our bags and makes our last quesdailla & guac dinner