Sunday was day two of the Bangkok Ultimate Frisbee Hat Tournament and everyone was involved in a single-elimination round robin. I decided to watch Sean play and chat with Ken rather than pretend I could actually play with the big dogs. It was a hot day and everyone was sweating like crazy. Sean's team did ok and ended up being in the top 8 out of about 25 teams. His team nixed the idea of a consolation game in the late afternoon, however, so we decided to get in some more sight-seeing with Ken since he was leaving the next day.
First we went to Wat Saket or The Golden Mount which was once the highest point in Bangkok. After climbing many stairs and navigating through crowds of Buddhists making merit with incense, flowers, prayers and money, we were rewarded with great views of the city. Most Thais are Buddhist and believe that making merit will aid their current situation as well as improve their future lives to come.
After climbing the hill it was getting late so we decided to take a tuk-tuk instead of walking to our next stop. In Bangkok, tuk-tuks (a three-wheeled motorized taxi) are ubiquitous and are also famous for scamming tourists. Supposedly, the locals are able to negotiate rates that are much cheaper than normal taxis but for tourists this is next to impossible if you don't want to get scammed. The scams are so well-known that any guide book warns you of several schemes with the logical moral of "if it seems too good to be true, it probably is."
The most famous tuk-tuk scam is fairly harmless if you have time to waste, a sense of humor and plenty of patience. In this scam a tuk-tuk driver offers to take you anywhere you want to go in the city for free! Then, instead of taking you to your destination, he makes several stops at gem stores, tailors, and souvenir shops. At each place you have to go inside and spend about 10 minutes (and hopefully buy something) in order for the driver to get his free kickback or gasoline voucher from the store. Eventually the driver will, in fact, take you to your destination for free, but not without you first spending hours walking through stores loaded with trinkets and fending off tailors trying to sell you a suit.
Since Ken, Sean and I had some time and were entertained by the thought of willfully participating in the tuk-tuk scam, we flagged down the nearest driver and sure enough, he offered to take us anywhere for free. However, after being dragged around to gem stores, souvenir shops and several tailors, the attraction we wanted to see had closed and we were anxious to get out of the tuk-tuk. Ken had to lay into the driver a bit and threaten to call his company if he didn't stop taking us around the city instead of where we wanted to go. We finally made it there after about an hour and a half total ride time and didn't have to pay. I don't think I would do it again, but it was a pretty unique experience regardless. Just cruising around Bangkok in a loud, and crazily-driven tuk-tuk was worth it in itself.
We spent the evening at a fancy rooftop lounge sipping iced coffees and looking at the gorgeous view of Wat Arun at sunset across the river. Later that night we all got Thai massages which cost about $8 and felt fantastic after a weekend of playing frisbee and walking around. We said goodbye to Ken who was leaving early in the morning to head back to China and then a few days later to India.
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