Sunday, October 24th, 2021
6:30 a.m. Room 207, FIG Boutique Hotel
Kamphaeng Phet, Thailand
For the first time in what feels like a very long time, I don’t have access to a kettle or hot water of any kind. And that means no morning coffee over my journal. I was surprised when this room at the FIG turned out to lack a kettle. I’ve become accustomed to having one, particularly at this level of accommodation. And I would normally have my own travel kettle of some variety. But this time I have neither. I have had to content myself with plain water.
The FIG in general doesn’t seem to live up to its 3-star rating. Of course, I am no expert in hotel ratings. Staying in hotels as nice as the SOHO and the FIG is a somewhat new experience for me, thanks to viewers of my YouTube channel. However, I believe the SOHO had a 3-star rating. And when I compare the FIG to the SOHO, I feel the FIG should come in at a lower rating, perhaps a full star. It feels to me like a 2-star hotel. There is a vast gulf between my experience of the SOHO and my experience of the FIG. I met another guest here at the hotel, and he said the same thing. For the price, he says it is a disappointment and it is overpriced.
My final breakfast at the SOHO went well, and afterward, I set about a leisurely process of packing. My goal was to rethink and reorganize how I packed my knapsack, and I think I was successful in that. On the previous scooter trip, I struggled when it came to accessing important items at certain times. Items became buried and it was difficult to dig them out when I needed them. This time, I made sure to keep important items, if not near the top, at least in a pocket or compartment that I could access easily. The key to this new system was taking full advantage of the knapsack’s large laptop sleeve at the back. It’s just wide enough that I can slide my documents and ID pouch into it and then array my Pocket 2 pouch and my LX10 pouch on top of it. This system gave me easy access to those three most important items. And then I made sure to put my GoPro accessories kit right at the very top of the other compartment. I put less important items at the bottom and put the GoPro kit on top of them. With this new system, the day passed with less frustration. I hadn’t done this before because using the laptop sleeve makes the knapsack a bit wider at the bottom, and the knapsack doesn’t slide into the gap at the front of the scooter as easily. However, I managed to make that work.
I was comfortable leaving later in the morning because I didn’t have far to ride. But I also hoped that by leaving later, I would give the morning clouds a chance to disperse. Unfortunately, the opposite occurred, and the clouds got thicker and darker as the time passed. By the time I left at around 11 a.m., the skies were completely dark, and it was clear that it was going to rain. In fact, it started to rain the moment that I left Tak City proper behind and entered the countryside. And it rained for much of the trip. I rode through the drizzle and the light rain. But when it came down very hard, which it did often, I pulled over and stopped underneath whatever shelter I could find. In these situations, Thailand’s trend of having many seemingly unused structures was useful to me. I was able to take advantage of overhanging roofs on many buildings that were closed and shuttered. If they were occupied, I likely wouldn’t have been able to do that.
One time, however, I was taken by surprise by an extremely heavy and sudden downpour, and I turned into the doorway of what I thought was a recycling center or mechanics shop. It turned out that it was more of a private home, and I was essentially taking shelter inside some family’s garage. A woman in the home heard me talking to my GoPro, and she came out to investigate. Rather than get angry with me for invading their private space, she welcomed me and brought me a chair.
I enjoyed the ride to Kamphaeng Phet, but it wasn’t particularly eventful. I enjoyed the riverside scenery despite the rain, and I arrived in Kamphaeng Phet in the late afternoon. I liked what I saw of the town. It felt casual and spacious and friendly. Finding the FIG hotel was a bit of a challenge, because it was located on the outskirts of town next to a busy bypass highway. This part of town is reserved for big commercial operations, such as the nearby Robinson’s Lifestyle shopping mall. I’m more accustomed to hotels that are located in the downtown core. Being out there is fine, though, because I have my scooter, and it’s easy to get anywhere. It’s just that I can’t simply pop outside and walk across the street to go to a 7-Eleven.
While bringing my bags up to my room, I met a man on the stairs, and he said in English that I looked familiar. He thought he might know me through YouTube, and when I spoke, he recognized my voice instantly. His name was Danny, and he was a fellow Canadian. He was in the middle of what I think was a two-week drive around Thailand in a rented car. He offered to treat me to dinner, and that evening, we found ourselves enjoying a good meal at the famous Fatboy’s Burger Bar. Danny had a steak, and I indulged in not one but two barbecue chicken burgers with fries. While we ate those, Danny kept rounds of Italian sodas coming. Fatboy’s Burger Bar was clearly popular and a local institution. The one knock against the place is that it is so popular that you’ll likely have to wait a bit for your meal to arrive. A lineup of delivery guys on scooters waited patiently outside for their orders to be ready. As a dine-in guest, you have to consider not only other dine-in guests but also the large number of home-delivery orders. These combine to keep the cooks very busy, and your meal takes a while to be prepared.
I was more than happy to wait, however. Danny and I had a lot to talk about. And the chicken burgers were the best I have ever had. And by a wide margin. The name of the place and the quality of the food would suit a much larger, much fancier, and more yuppy-style place. But Fatboy’s Burger Bar is small and family-run. The simple tables and stools belie the quality of the food. I will be returning today.
My plan for today is two-fold: I’m hoping to visit the Kamphaeng Phet National Museum, and I hope to return to Fatboy’s. My timing is lucky, because the museum is open from Wednesday to Sunday and closed on Monday and Tuesday. Today is Sunday, and this is my only chance to go there before it closes for two days. I don’t think I will make any special effort to visit the Historical Park today. I want to experience the museum today and get my mental and physical bearings first. And then I’ll visit the park tomorrow.