things we lose along the way

This is, chronologically, getting to be old news, but it took a few days before I really felt up to rehashing and writing it all down.

On my way to Bangkok - actually, on the bus ride from Phuket to catch the train in Surat Thani, I was robbed. It is unfortunately a well-known scam, apparently, where whilst I rode on the bus above, the bus workers climb in with the luggage, go through your backpack, and steal anything of value.

Objectively speaking, I didn't lose that much, and certainly I didn't lose more than I could afford to - in reality, I lost what I had placed in my backpack as back up, in case I lost my real valuable items that I carry with me always. So while I lost some emergency funds, it does not derail my finances. Nevertheless, these guys were thorough - they went through every pocket of every pant, every pouch, pawed through my underwear, unrolled my little stash of Ziplocs, and essentially left nothing unturned. They missed nothing.

I was devastated when I discovered the treachery, and since then have pretty much done the stages of grief - though maybe am still a bit hung up on the anger part. But all in all, it's an important and unfortunate lesson.

In the scheme of things, I am traveling a long time and though a lot of countries, and in the end I don't think this will rate more than an unfortunate blip, but it does have consequences. For one, it's caused me to give up my planned trip to Cambodia and Angkor Wat to see the temples. Getting to Cambodia from Bangkok involves either quite expensive flights or a protracted series of bus/tuk tuk/cab haggling and riding, long travel, and taxi drivers and border agents who are all, apparently, famous for ripping people off. Frankly, I am not up for it right now, and while I can be quite certain that nothing of value remains in my backpack any longer, the thought of putting it back on another bus for someone else to make SURE there's nothing valuable in it makes me a bit ill. So I am not going. It makes me sad, and back to the angry again, but it's what I have the wherewithal to handle right now.

I am trying not to let it, too, color my opinion of Thailand, but it is hard. It is a poor country, one overrun by tourists and travelers, and people adapt in many ways - many more speak English than I might otherwise expect, there is much more of an structure in place to sell tours, food, souvenirs, clothes, and services to travelers. And unfortunately, there are many, many, MANY people in Bangkok who have adapted by becoming scam artists. Every time I step from my hotel, I am pursued by tuk tuk drivers, even though I am clearly not looking for one. I have stopped answering the oft-asked question of "Where are you going?" because I am invariably told that it is closed (it never is, they just want to take you shopping somewhere they get a commission). Yesterday at Wat Pho, no fewer than four people told me it was closed for a ceremony for the next few hours, when in fact the entrance was just around the corner. No one told me that; I just went to find it. I have lost count of how many times my unsolicited directions have pointed me in a way different - and presumably wrong - from the way I was told to go by maps, guidebooks, the hotel.

I am trying to ignore the scams and the ripping off, and not let it shade what I think of the place, but between getting robbed and getting it in tiny forms, it is hard. I have one more week in Bangkok, and I am determined to enjoy it. But while travel is amazing and illuminating and interesting, not all of its lessons are ones I really wanted to learn.