We Went to Bangkok and Only Got Ripped Off 3 Times

Hello family! We just got back from our weekend Bangkok trip. The weekend was fun, but went by so fast! On Friday, we left for Bangkok right after catch-up. Ton drove us to random store where the "bus" would pick us up at 5:30. It turned out to be a tiny van carrying a dozen people to Bangkok. The five and half hour drive actually went by really fast, but he was a crazy driver! At one point, he was driving on the wrong side of the road, but I think he was actually just trying to avoid potholes. We got dropped off on the side of road at around 11 pm and caught a taxi to our hostel. That was the first time we were ripped off. Our taxi driver claimed his meter was broken and overcharged us. Our hostel was very nice and though we were staying in the mixed dorm, we didn't have any other roommates. We got up early the next morning and walked to the Skytrain station to go to the Grand Palace. We stopped at Dunkin Donuts for a little breakfast on the way. We got lost a couple times, but finally made it to the river. We got ripped off a second time by taking a more expensive longboat to the Grand Palace instead of the public ferry, but it was fun riding in the longboat. We made it to the Grand Palace and walked around the beautiful grounds. We saw the Grand Palace and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. It was fun but very hot in our long skirts! On the way back from the Grand Palace, we stopped at another temple to see the Reclining Buddha. We then decided we needed to get a little lunch. We took a tuk tuk to a megamall called Station 21. It had over 10 floors and each floor was named and themed after a world city. We got Mexican food on the San Francisco floor and walked around the London, Paris, and Istanbul floors. They even had H&M on the Paris floor! It was definitely the most crowded store in the mall. After the mall, we got Thai massages at a massage parlor near our hostel. This was my second Thai massage and a guy did it. Unlike the woman at the massage parlor in Phichit, he did not massage my butt. This morning we went to the bus station and bought tickets back to Phichit. We rode an actual bus back to Phichit with comfortable seats and TVs onboard. This bus even came with an attendant and free drinks and snacks. It was also actually cheaper than the van. So that was our weekend in Bangkok. It was a nice getaway. We also have only one more week teaching our normal students before they go on winter break. I hope you all are well!