CHIANG MAI Day 23
THURSDAY 25th. I didn’t have a very good night and was glad to be up. As we ordered our breakfast Keith returned to our room for his tablets. He couldn’t find them so I went to take a look and returned empty handed. When Pepsi came with our order he asked if he had left them on the table yesterday but again a search found nothing. Normally if guests leave their tablets they are placed in a certain place in the kitchen area and there was nothing there.
Whilst I did a bit of washing Keith disappeared to the pharmacy hoping he would be able to buy some. He was gone a long time and during his absence Opas called to say he would take him to a large pharmacy. On his return he had been unsuccessful and had been told to visit a doctor in the local hospital. The assistant had written down 2 hospitals both about 20 minutes away, both charging but one would take about 2 hours to be seen whereas the other for a few extra baht he would be seen immediately. We chose the ‘Lanna Hospital’.
For the first time Keith negotiated a price with a song tao as the assistant had said the fare would be 40 baht. The driver wanted 150 for the two of us and accepted 100. The journey seemed to take for ever and at one point we went down the fish market which smelt dreadful.
We arrived at the hospital and registered and was then told to go to the ‘Internal Medicine Department’. We duly followed the directions and in no time we were stood in front of a very large nurse wearing a grey jacket who asked if we had registered and to sit down. No stand up and be weighed – 88 kilos “How tall” 6 feet – oh heck she wants it in metres. Now sit down and put your right arm through a machine that would take his blood pressure whilst out came a packet with a disposable thermometer. Did he have a fever – no, just a cold. Next put your left arm in the machine where the readout was worse than the first one – and he didn’t have a fever. Wait over there.
We sat in very comfy chairs watching the flat screen TV showing the Asian Games taking place in China. There were two consulting rooms in front of us and Keith was soon invited to enter the one marked Cardiac where a nurse kept guard on a partly opened sliding door. Discussions over and the Doctor prescribed similar tablets but at a much lower dosage so he will have to take 12 a day to have the same effect as the one he currently takes.
The next stop was the Cashier and Pharmacy which we would after following another nurse. Once he had paid 200 for the doctor, 50 for the nurse and 300 for his prescription and given a load of paperwork in return he moved on to the Pharmacy and handed over some of the paperwork. He returned to join me whilst waiting for his name to be called and then it was out into the hot sunshine where luckily a song tao was waiting but no sign of the driver. At a nearby stall the woman called his name several times as she thought he was sleeping. Ah he’s eating. No he wasn’t as I saw him emerge from the hospital. We were soon back at the footbridge and paid him the 100 baht fare without any negotiations.
We returned to the ‘Hinley’ Curry house for a late lunch and had a look around the garden and the exterior of the house built as I mentioned earlier by Anna’s son after meeting Uncle Jack’s son in law.
Next stop was the Kodak shop to get a group photo printed to send to Mike. Only 3 baht here for glossy printing, and at the Post Office I received a free envelope and only 3 baht postage. The last item on today’s agenda was some purple wrapping paper from a florist’s sundry shop. This cost 50 baht which I was happy with but Keith said I should have done some negotiating and then agreed £1 for 10 sheets wasn’t bad after all.
I took a siesta before going out to eat at the ‘Brasserie’. It was very quiet in the restaurant and everywhere else – no fireworks but a few lanterns were still being sent up into the clear night sky. We moved indoors to listen to Gap but the band playing on the waste ground next door did their best to drown him out. He apologised and said it was difficult to play with the competition but continued. As he finished his hour of entertainment the band stopped playing also! He came to say goodbye to us remembering we are due to go home and gave us an envelope containing a rainbow coloured plectrum with a few words of thanks written on the envelope. At 11pm the next band began their hour of entertainment but we remained in our seats as they were good but loud. When Keith finished his beer we walked home noticing this waste area by the river was now advertising – a bus bar and live music.
Whilst I did a bit of washing Keith disappeared to the pharmacy hoping he would be able to buy some. He was gone a long time and during his absence Opas called to say he would take him to a large pharmacy. On his return he had been unsuccessful and had been told to visit a doctor in the local hospital. The assistant had written down 2 hospitals both about 20 minutes away, both charging but one would take about 2 hours to be seen whereas the other for a few extra baht he would be seen immediately. We chose the ‘Lanna Hospital’.
For the first time Keith negotiated a price with a song tao as the assistant had said the fare would be 40 baht. The driver wanted 150 for the two of us and accepted 100. The journey seemed to take for ever and at one point we went down the fish market which smelt dreadful.
We arrived at the hospital and registered and was then told to go to the ‘Internal Medicine Department’. We duly followed the directions and in no time we were stood in front of a very large nurse wearing a grey jacket who asked if we had registered and to sit down. No stand up and be weighed – 88 kilos “How tall” 6 feet – oh heck she wants it in metres. Now sit down and put your right arm through a machine that would take his blood pressure whilst out came a packet with a disposable thermometer. Did he have a fever – no, just a cold. Next put your left arm in the machine where the readout was worse than the first one – and he didn’t have a fever. Wait over there.
We sat in very comfy chairs watching the flat screen TV showing the Asian Games taking place in China. There were two consulting rooms in front of us and Keith was soon invited to enter the one marked Cardiac where a nurse kept guard on a partly opened sliding door. Discussions over and the Doctor prescribed similar tablets but at a much lower dosage so he will have to take 12 a day to have the same effect as the one he currently takes.
The next stop was the Cashier and Pharmacy which we would after following another nurse. Once he had paid 200 for the doctor, 50 for the nurse and 300 for his prescription and given a load of paperwork in return he moved on to the Pharmacy and handed over some of the paperwork. He returned to join me whilst waiting for his name to be called and then it was out into the hot sunshine where luckily a song tao was waiting but no sign of the driver. At a nearby stall the woman called his name several times as she thought he was sleeping. Ah he’s eating. No he wasn’t as I saw him emerge from the hospital. We were soon back at the footbridge and paid him the 100 baht fare without any negotiations.
We returned to the ‘Hinley’ Curry house for a late lunch and had a look around the garden and the exterior of the house built as I mentioned earlier by Anna’s son after meeting Uncle Jack’s son in law.
Next stop was the Kodak shop to get a group photo printed to send to Mike. Only 3 baht here for glossy printing, and at the Post Office I received a free envelope and only 3 baht postage. The last item on today’s agenda was some purple wrapping paper from a florist’s sundry shop. This cost 50 baht which I was happy with but Keith said I should have done some negotiating and then agreed £1 for 10 sheets wasn’t bad after all.
I took a siesta before going out to eat at the ‘Brasserie’. It was very quiet in the restaurant and everywhere else – no fireworks but a few lanterns were still being sent up into the clear night sky. We moved indoors to listen to Gap but the band playing on the waste ground next door did their best to drown him out. He apologised and said it was difficult to play with the competition but continued. As he finished his hour of entertainment the band stopped playing also! He came to say goodbye to us remembering we are due to go home and gave us an envelope containing a rainbow coloured plectrum with a few words of thanks written on the envelope. At 11pm the next band began their hour of entertainment but we remained in our seats as they were good but loud. When Keith finished his beer we walked home noticing this waste area by the river was now advertising – a bus bar and live music.
posted by Pam at
03:17
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home