I was woke up in the middle of the night by a phonecall from one of my credit cards saying that my payment had been missed, charges incurred and my promotional rate has been lost and that if they did not receive alternate payment immediately that they would start to take legal action against me.
As you might image, this isn't quite the early morning wake up call that I expected or wanted, but at least it got me out of bed and reminded me that the problems with my old bank were still not behind me fully.
What was more worrying for me was that if my other credit card direct debits were bouncing this could only be because my main current account was overdrawn beyond its limit, made moreson by the fact that not only had I not been using that card recently but the last timeI checked it has almost two thousands pounds in it, which meant that things were seriously wrong and I would have no alternative but to cut my trip short and return home.
Once I was awake I figured that this was the best time to call the bank back home to see what the score was, but due to it being out of normal ofice hours I was told that there was nothing the telephone staff could do to help and that I should try to call my local branch later.
This news just about put me in the pits for definetly as I did not want to have to come home early to sort this all out but despite my repeated efforts this thing just isnt going away or looks any closer to being resolved.
With not much else I could do, I had to check out of the hostel, hoping that my stuff would be safe in their reception area, while I went off travelling around the Batu Caves with C' and one of her airline colleagues, an Australian, who also wanted to visit the caves without having to waste time with the sales pitches.
I grabbed a taxi from outside the hostel to their hotel for 10 RM and as chance would have it I spotted C' near the reception food kiosk so I didnt even have to ask for the reception to call up to her, instead just going up and saying hi and then very soon her colleague arrived and together we all went off to the caves.
The trip took about twenty minutes and as we had haggled on the price, settling on 40 RM even though 30 was closer to the correct value, and being just outside the main city limits it gave us a bit of a taste of the outer limites.
The Batu Caves are an amazing sight from the outside, as they are high, and have marvellous decorative Hindu sculptures and temples in and around it and you feel a real sense of awe when you visit.
There are 272 steps to the main plateau, past the huge golden statue that stands guard at the entrance and all over the steps are discarded flipflops and slippers, rubbish, coconut halves and semi-wild monkeys that howl, cry and thieve if you are unlucky enough to get too close to them when they have a mind for mischief.
As I had been unable to recharge my camera battery whilst in Malaysia, as they use the same plugs that we do back in the UK but my camera was an American Import and I never thought to bring an adapter to covert INTO a standard British format, I was forced into being extra careful with my choice of shots and not just snapping away at anything that took my fancy.
Travelling in a small group of three was ideal for photographic purposes, as we could take photos of each other and even mixed pairs without having to hassle anyone else or run of the risk of anyone running off with our cameras or having to explain how to use it and hope that they take a half decent photo that is at least in focus.
After wandering around for an hour or more we headed on back to the entrance, where the girls took turns holding the albino snake and parots, while I snapped away for them, not really in dire need myself to pay more for something that you can do in plenty of other places for free.
Once the snake charming had been done, C' decided to pause for a bit of Sari shopping, as her mum loves them apparently, before we then all jumped back into our waiting taxi guy ( which shows how much extra he was charging as he never asked for a waiting fee !!! ) and then headed on over to the National Museum and Park.
If the Caves had shown the dirty side of Malaysia then certainly the museum showed off its clean and tidy side, as the place was immaculate, well presented ( just not enough signboards or displays in English for me to make the most of it, but thats hardly their fault ) and had my camera battery pack still been charged I would have happily took enough photos to pass the 10,000 mark for this trip, however as it was it is still only around 9,850. The best bit was that it was only 2 RM to get in, so not quite free but it wouldnt break anyones bank to enter, however poor they might be.
Some of the clothes and weapons on display were magnificient and even the modern day section was interesting enough to keep us all there for another hour before we were all getting a little peckish and so went off in search of food.
After a light snack we headed across the motorway overpass to reach the National Park which was segregated into a few bits like the worlds largest enclosed bird centre, but at 39 RM it made no sense, especially as the other parts that we saw were free.
The heat and sun was glorious and often we would stop and just rest to shelter from the sun before continuing on our way, and it was a shame when he had to call it a day as I had a flight to Bangkok booked and they had their own flight to prepare for.
My original plan was to go on to Penang in the north east of Malaysia, but with my bank again giving me grief I wanted to rush and get to there as quickly as possible so that if I did have to come back and kick some financial butt I could still say that at least I got to see some of Thailand before doing so, and of course flights back to Europe from Bangkok are not that expensive as it is a major travel hub in the Far East.
We shared a taxi back, dropping them off at their hotel before continuing on and then once I collected my own luggage I just had enough time to ask the best way to get to the airport before walking to the skytrain station. A few stops later and I got out and with no signs to guide me, I just followed the flow of other passengers with large suitcases of rucksacks lead me to where the main train and bus station was and where various methods of going to the airport could be found.
The express train was around 38 MR but as I had plenty of time, I instead jumped on a coach supplied by the same airline as I was flying, Air Aisa, for only 9 RM, though this took twice the time ( around an hour and a half from when I first arrived to getting off at the airport ) and so I was able to check in without delay.
The airport is going under a bit of a renovation just at the moment, so there were divertion arrows, scaffolding and plasterboard walls cordoning off areas while dust and noise of workmen overwhelmed the normal hussle and bustle of passengers finding their flights or searching for cheap accomodation / taxis.
I am not sure if it is the renovation works of my own, but once I had gone through security there was nowhere to plug my laptop in or to get a working wifi signal, so instead I just had to sit quietly, kicking myself for putting my brand new lonely planet guide to the far east in my main luggage instead of keeping it with me in my hand luggage.
The flight across was a couple of hours and as there had been no chosen seating, instead of going for my usual window seat I took one of the first seats available at the front of the plain in the hopes of a early exit.
The visa permit came in a double sides twin form, that was easy to complete and calmed my nerves as I did not want to have to pay or get stuck at immigration in Bangkok and I was probably one of the first people on the flight to have it completed so that I could enjoy the rest of the flight in peace.
In addition to last minute flight to Bangkok I had also had to book a quick hotel and not really being keyed up for it, and in a rush, I forgot to check the distances between the airport and the city centre, so although the hotel was only £20 per night, around 1,000 Baht, it was also almost an hour away by car from the city centre, although I didnt realise this after I had checked in and agreed to stay for two nights instead of the original one.
As bad omens went the first rooms tv did not work, the second the air con had packed in and while the third had both in working order it was only after taking a shower that I realised its own downfall, in that the drain was not working properly and so I had succeeded in flooding my toilet / bathroom for the remainder of the night.
Not noticing anything too special around the hotel on the way over, I asked how to get ino the city centre, despite it being around 10pm, only to find the hotel staff very confused over this, and didnt really want to get involved. After I ended up saying that yes I wanted to go to where all the nightclubs and discos were and I understand that it is a little far away, they relented and I got a taxi for 350 Baht.
What i didnt realise is how far away it really was, and even at this time of night the streets were still full of traffic and it took over an hour to get to the district where the clubs were, but by this time I was tired, too tired to stay out for long so I planned on just getting a little money out from the ATM's, a quick pop into a club and then back to the hotel to recover and plan for the next day.
Disaster, no matter which card I tried or how little I asked for all my cards were declined in all the machines that I used, even the HSBC machine and one of mine was a HSBC card!
Thus, short of funds I went to an internet cafe and for 20 minutes I sent a few emails to my bank asking what was going on, for only 10 Baht, and then had to catch another taxi back.
Before the taxi back I did at least walk up and down the street, expecting to be approached by lots of girls but instead it was the guys, pimping the clubs that approached me but at I had little or no actual money, and with my credit cards refusing me access to more, I knew that it was a waste even talking to them, especially as they might not understand if I went went inside and then claimed poverty, I might not get out again all in tact and in one piece.
The taxi ride back was worse than the one there, purely due to the lateness of the hour and the fact that I was in a dark mood. Arriving back at my hotel I decided that as the hotel was so far away I would see what the local area within walking distance had to offer, and it ended up being plenty of wild dogs that thankfully more bark than bite and a couple of karaoke bars.
I got a little too close to one and so this "person" came up and taking hold of my arm led me to a table. I am still not sure about them as the figure was slim, the large breasts were so fake as to be laughable but it was the face, chin and eyes that I could not make sense of. In the end, despite their polite requests I declined everything offered and after paying over the top a coke ( but possible the cover charge is built into the first drink of the night here ! ) I walked back to the hotel.
Feeling a little better being on familar ground once more I thought I would at least see what the hotel's massage room was like, only to be confronted by a large woman old enough to be my grandmother smiling with too few teeth eager to give me a massage for 'only 500 Baht' and so I feigned tiredness and disinterest and fled back to my room, locking the door and with not even a good tv movie to fall back on, I ended the day much as I started.
No comments:
Post a Comment