Bangkok to Saraburi

"Saraburi, a province in the upper central region of Thailand, is rich in tourist attractions including natural sites, cultural festivals, majestic temples, and historical venues. Located 108 kilometers north of Bangkok, Saraburi city is just 65 kilometers from Ayutthaya and the two can be combined to make a diverse day trip. The most important Buddhist temple in Saraburi, Wat Phra Phutthabat was built in the 17th century and features a “Buddha footprint” that has made it one of the most popular pilgrimage sites in central Thailand."

www.tourismthailand.org

A flashback

The last three days, we slept at Cat's aunt's house. Her mom's house is being remodel at the present moment. Her mom owes the second duplex which she rented to others. She wants to combine the duplexes into a three story home with five bedrooms and two bathrooms. Her aunt's house is in Bang Na, which is about 20 minutes from Bangkok. Unlike her mother's house and many other houses in Bangkok which consisted of one-or two-story wooden structures built closely together; it is a two-story standalone house with a metal front gate. I like her aunt's house because they have flushable toilets and a shower system.

Neighborhood where we stayed

On our second day in Thailand, Cat took us to her mom's house. When I went to use the bathroom, I noticed it was a regular sit-down toilet, except that it doesn't flush automatically. Next to it, there was a huge container filled with water, and a bowl inside. I didn't know you have to scoop water from the container and pour it into the toilet. After using the toilet, I couldn't find a handle to flush it, so I had to come out asked my friends why there was no handle. They laughed and said I need to manually pour water down.

Saraburi, here we come!

Sunflower Field in Saraburi

The person that we hired to drive us to Saraburi was a friend of one of my friends. He operates a private tour or something, that was what I was told. We paid him 2500 Baht (55 USD), and split it equally between the five us. If you are Thai, you would think we were crazy to pay him that much just for a one way trip. Normally it would only cost about 1000 Baht (22 USD) round trip.

Cat and her aunt helped us carried our humongous and heavy suitcases into the van. We thanked her aunt for letting us stayed in her house. My friends and I agreed that we would each give 500 Baht to compensate her aunt. But when we handed Cat the money in an envelope to give her aunt before we closed the door of the van, she refused to accept it, and so did her aunt.

They watched and waved to us as the van pulled away from the driveway into the small road. I took one last look at Cat from within and waved to them both. I could never thank her enough for what she has given me in the last few days. She will always be someone close to my heart.

I should mention that Cat didn't want me to leave with my friends. We had a moment together where she asked and made me promised to go back to Bangkok and stay an extra month. While we talked, I saw tears in the corner of her eyes, but she did really good and held it in. I took off my necklace that I had and put it on her neck. I told her to keep it as a memory, and as something I would go back for. I miss her a lot right now.

We arrived in Saraburi earlier this afternoon.