7-9 Bangkok Day 2

I made it back to the Vietnamese Embassy by the 8:30am opening time and there was already a line formed 20 people long. In order to pick up my visa, I needed the receipt. Myself, Chris, and Matt had all our visa payments on one receipt, so they took it with them last week to get theirs. Following their emailed instructions, I created quite a scene in the waiting room. As 30 people watched, I slid my hands under a set of bookshelves where Chris and hidden the receipt. I located the receipt and quickly pocketed it. Everyone looked at me like I was some sort of spy or something. With just 3 hours to spare before my flight, I waited in an impossibly slow line. Despite showing the woman behind the counter my flight ticket and winking at her, I got no breaks. It took 2 hours for them to put a stamp in my passport, which I had applied for over three weeks ago! I hopped on a motorbike taxi, so as to be able to weave through the rush hour traffic and cut through stopped traffic at lights. It worked well, but we were not allowed to cruise on the highway due to the low speeds of motorbikes....arrrgghh!!!! I had missed my flight thanks to those lazy embassy commies, which made the DMV look ultra efficient. There were no other flights out so I re-booked for the same flight the following morning at no extra cost. Frustrated and tired, I arrived back on Kao San Road. I tried a new hotel still under construction called Dang Derm. It was $26 for a nice single room with A/C, DVD player, and a rooftop pool & spa. 2 hours lounging in and around the spa with my book was just what I needed. I then took the advice of my Frommer's book and ate lunch at a back alley Vegetarian Thai restaurant off of Kao San Road. My book said this restaurant, called Mai Kaidee, served the best Massaman Curry (peanut and potato base) in Thailand; I concur. Everything was awesome and I can't wait to eat there again! I spent the rest of the day organizing, uploading, and backing up photos. It's expensive and a real pain, but worth it. We met a girl that had spent 7 weeks in Europe, then got her laptop with all her pictures stolen on her last day!