1st day, 1st scam.

Oh, how embarrassing. There are scam warnings in the guidebooks and from friends who have come before, and yet our very first day, us 'farang' (silly foreigners!) are poorer and much more downtrodden then we were when we first awoke.

So. After a 4.5 hour flight delay and two extremely cramped aircrafts later, we landed in this wild city. We were nervous. Even a bit worried our taxi driver could take us to a dark alley and we'd never be seen again. (We were advised by someone prior to direct our cabby specifically and be sure of where we were going, but that's a bit difficult when you've been flying for 22 hours straight and can't read Thai road signs...) However, he was a gentleman and took us to our pre-arranged guesthouse, assuring us 'you are already good at Thai language, by the end of 5 weeks you learn Thai, 10%!'

We slept a fitful few hours and were ready to explore. We enjoy wandering around, choosing our own adventures and discovering the city as best we can on our own. Although we don't mind a kind stranger stopping to give us some advice and friendly suggestions for our itinerary.

This man (nicknamed Chai), wrote us out a list of 6 places to stop, informing us today was 'Buddha Day' and there were 'free events and wat (temple) visits'. He told us to find a yellow licensed 'Government Tuk-Tuk' and that the driver would take us to the wats etc. for only 20baht (less than 1$!) due to the holiday. (Ashamed on our behalf? You simply MUST see those charming Thai smiles up close before you judge us softies.)

SO! A Tuk-Tuk conveniently pulls up and our friend shows him our list and explains to him in Thai everywhere we should go, having him first agree to our low price. Before we're quite certain what's happening, we are ushered into the back of the Tuk-Tuk.

Quote of the day, 'I can't believe how NICE these people are!' Tuk-Tuk man is no exception. He began to take us everywhere on our list, assuring us we could 'take our time' and he would wait.

It wasn't until he took us to the 2nd trap on our list (giant suit or jewelry consignment stores where the employees would stick to your side and stare you down waiting for you to buy thousands of dollars worth of silk ties and rubys) we realized he wasn't quite on the level. He assured us the government would reimburse his gas money if we'd stay in each tourist store for 10 minutes. ''Don't like, don't buy'' he assured us. They were all equally the worst minutes of our lives.

Typing this now has finally made us stop wanting to cry, and finally begin to laugh at our obvious foreign-land-foolishness. We aren't laughing hard, however.
Trust me, when you're this culture shocked and people are so friendly, it's easy to be taken in at first.
It gets worse.. (Please forgive me Papa, you taught me much better, I know.)

The kind Mr. Chai on the street (who we thought we just ADORED!) told us to go to tourist agency TAT to buy our train tickets to Chang Mai, where we planned to head the next evening.
TAT is a government subsidiary put in place to help us confused farangs. They are professionals at what they do...apparently, that's scamming (at least at this location?).
We arrive at TAT and a lovely man named 'Chris' (ha...) told us that it was cheapest and easiest to plan our Chang Mai excursion then and there. I asked, 'Can't we go to the train station for this?' He said it's the same price everywhere. He also calculated all of the expenses in a logical manner with his handy calculator, and informed us trekking outside the city on our own without a tour was against the law. We didn't know the area, speak the language, or know how to deal with wild monkeys and giant spiders.
This is true.
Needless to say, he 'booked' our train there, guest house, trek tour (including elephant rides, long neck tribe visit and bamboo rafting, which was our hope) as well as our bus back to Bangkok 4 days later.
The price seemed a bit steep, but we thought about it and with the calculations and amount of time and travel, it seemed to make sense.

After we left, our hearts began to pound a bit faster. Not just because we were taken to our 4th jewelry store and then left at a Wat by Mr. Tuk-Tuk before we payed him.

All in all, not the most successful first day of vacation.
We somehow found our way on foot all the way back to our guesthouse (Kevin's gift of course, not mine... I can't believe his sense of direction works on the other side of the planet) and did some Internet research.

...TAT = SCAM.

We canceled our plans for a much needed nap and rushed back to 'Chris'. We told him my Mother fell ill and we needed to go back to USA right away, no time for tours! Money back please?

We were able to puppy eye back some of the fees, and were told if we come back with a legit ticket back home within 2 days, he'd give us more. How ironic... he didn't trust us.

Now, we are left with less money and 0 train tickets/tours. Where to next, who can say. Change of plans may be in order.

So, we live. We learn (use a credit card!). And we saw some pretty Buddhas.

We'll get better, we know we will.
Kevin says these types of things are always a baptism by fire, they work no other way. His thoughts on Bangkok? ''Get me out of here!''
But I assure him (and myself) tomorrow is a new day.