Retail Mystery Tour
I went to a nearby Wat to see an emerald and a crystal Buddha. There, I was met by a tuk-tuk driver offering me a 2-3 hr tour for only 100B. I was intrigued. Surely, there was a catch. He said he would take me to 2 Wats outside town after which he would take me to a few shops, where I only had to look but not buy anything. He openly admitted that they were paying him to bring people to their shops as it was the Low Season. (the high season is Nov-Feb).
I was impaled on the horns of a dilemma. My natural cynicism was to reject this Too Good To Be True offer and walk away. I thought I might be forced to buy something or be dumped on the side of the road with a long trek in the boiling midday sun. On the plus side, he showed me his notebook with a glowing review in English, although it could have been written by a Thai.
However, the shops were near the train station, that was several km East of the centre of the city, where I was staying. I could try the sangthaew route to get there but I can't seem to manage to get the standard shared taxi fare. Alternatively, I could hire a tuk-tuk to take me there. I wanted to go there because I'm not spontaneous enough to arrive 5 min before the train leaves and assume I could get a ticket. So, I wanted to book an overnight sleeper to Bangkok, leaving 18 March.
I decide to take a calculated risk and take up the driver on his offer but with a few terms of my own. First, I asked to go to the train station. Then I offered him 40B. He countered with 80B. I raised to 50B. He slumped to 60B. We agreed on 55B and I said the sum in Thai.
He took me to the 2 temples. First was Wat Phuak Hong, with a "stacked spheres" style. There appeared to be a class for kids inside which was ended when the fruit stall arrived. The kids rushed out to buy pieces of watermelon.
Second was Wat Jet Yot, based on an Indian design, it has 7 spires representing the 7 weeks Buddha spent in Bodhgaya (India) after his enlightenment. (source: LPT).
Then, I asked the tuk-tuk driver to take me to the train station but he said he would do that after we went to the shops. I was waiting for the other shoe to fall. We drove out to the East of Chiang Mai for a couple of miles. We drove along a main road with out-of-town retailers on both sides eg. Carrefour. Then, we arrived at a small building surrounded by a large car park. I was ushered in and met by a Kashmiri man. He showed me pashminas and silks. I thanked him for his time and walked out.
The next stop on the retail tour was the lacquer shop which doubled as a factory. I feigned dis-interest in the displays and demonstrations of how laquer products are made and walked through several areas of displays. I was met at the other end by the tuk-tuk driver.
He then drove me to the rug shop. Another couple of Kashmiri men met me and one of them sat at a loom and showed me the ancient art of carpet weaving, that the Iranians had just given up on. He and his partner picked up various sizes of carpets and unrolled each of them, with a solid thwack as one end struck the floor. They then spun them around to show how the colours varied depending on the angle. By the end of the demonstration, the room was covered in 6 different sizes of rugs. I thanked them for their demonstration and walked out.
At this point, I asked the tuk-tuk driver to take me to the train station. He said he still hadn' received enough petrol money and I was to go to a silver shop. We drove a few metres to a long building that was flanked by a couple of coaches. I walked in at one end and saw many counters of rings and other ornaments. I had to walk through several rooms of display cases before I had got I reached the passengers of the coaches who were waiting at the other end.
As I saw the tuk-tuk driver, I smiled once more and asked him to take me to the train station, which he agreed to do.
When I arrived at the train station, I found out the late train had all it's sleepers booked up and I had to go for an expensive AC sleeper on the earlier train. I got into the tuk-tuk again and we went back to the centre of Chiang Mai. When I gave the the driver 55B, he said that I had given him a 5B tip but I said I had not.
I went off to a travel agency to book a tour for 18 March. It will involve elephant riding, bamboo rafting, a bit of forest-walking, a waterfall visit and a visit to 2 tribes. There is a 50 min window between the return to Chiang Mai time and the departure of my train.
I was impaled on the horns of a dilemma. My natural cynicism was to reject this Too Good To Be True offer and walk away. I thought I might be forced to buy something or be dumped on the side of the road with a long trek in the boiling midday sun. On the plus side, he showed me his notebook with a glowing review in English, although it could have been written by a Thai.
However, the shops were near the train station, that was several km East of the centre of the city, where I was staying. I could try the sangthaew route to get there but I can't seem to manage to get the standard shared taxi fare. Alternatively, I could hire a tuk-tuk to take me there. I wanted to go there because I'm not spontaneous enough to arrive 5 min before the train leaves and assume I could get a ticket. So, I wanted to book an overnight sleeper to Bangkok, leaving 18 March.
I decide to take a calculated risk and take up the driver on his offer but with a few terms of my own. First, I asked to go to the train station. Then I offered him 40B. He countered with 80B. I raised to 50B. He slumped to 60B. We agreed on 55B and I said the sum in Thai.
He took me to the 2 temples. First was Wat Phuak Hong, with a "stacked spheres" style. There appeared to be a class for kids inside which was ended when the fruit stall arrived. The kids rushed out to buy pieces of watermelon.
Second was Wat Jet Yot, based on an Indian design, it has 7 spires representing the 7 weeks Buddha spent in Bodhgaya (India) after his enlightenment. (source: LPT).
Then, I asked the tuk-tuk driver to take me to the train station but he said he would do that after we went to the shops. I was waiting for the other shoe to fall. We drove out to the East of Chiang Mai for a couple of miles. We drove along a main road with out-of-town retailers on both sides eg. Carrefour. Then, we arrived at a small building surrounded by a large car park. I was ushered in and met by a Kashmiri man. He showed me pashminas and silks. I thanked him for his time and walked out.
The next stop on the retail tour was the lacquer shop which doubled as a factory. I feigned dis-interest in the displays and demonstrations of how laquer products are made and walked through several areas of displays. I was met at the other end by the tuk-tuk driver.
He then drove me to the rug shop. Another couple of Kashmiri men met me and one of them sat at a loom and showed me the ancient art of carpet weaving, that the Iranians had just given up on. He and his partner picked up various sizes of carpets and unrolled each of them, with a solid thwack as one end struck the floor. They then spun them around to show how the colours varied depending on the angle. By the end of the demonstration, the room was covered in 6 different sizes of rugs. I thanked them for their demonstration and walked out.
At this point, I asked the tuk-tuk driver to take me to the train station. He said he still hadn' received enough petrol money and I was to go to a silver shop. We drove a few metres to a long building that was flanked by a couple of coaches. I walked in at one end and saw many counters of rings and other ornaments. I had to walk through several rooms of display cases before I had got I reached the passengers of the coaches who were waiting at the other end.
As I saw the tuk-tuk driver, I smiled once more and asked him to take me to the train station, which he agreed to do.
When I arrived at the train station, I found out the late train had all it's sleepers booked up and I had to go for an expensive AC sleeper on the earlier train. I got into the tuk-tuk again and we went back to the centre of Chiang Mai. When I gave the the driver 55B, he said that I had given him a 5B tip but I said I had not.
I went off to a travel agency to book a tour for 18 March. It will involve elephant riding, bamboo rafting, a bit of forest-walking, a waterfall visit and a visit to 2 tribes. There is a 50 min window between the return to Chiang Mai time and the departure of my train.
posted by Iconochasm at 3:59 pm
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home