The shortcut

While adventuring through Bangkok in the wee hours of the night, my friend and I somehow managed to lose track of our location. We walked down dark side roads, mostly empty if only for the  occasional  small stores surrounded by (mostly) intoxicated locals. Wandering around, we spotted a sign indicating the direction back to one of the main areas we knew, so we followed it. Its arrow led us to the entrance of a dark alleyway turning into a strange hallway through a building. We weren't sure if that was the right way, but a local lady loudly spoke to us in Thai, and motioned for us to proceed into the dark alley.

Desperately tired, we weighted our choices and opted for the shady looking route as opposed to risking having to deal again with the questionable-at-best areas we had just walked through.  
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While we kept hoping this walk down the path of darkness wouldn't turn into a nightmare (picturing "kidnapped girls missing" as the media headline), we were relieved beyond imagination when we turned a corner to the recognizable sights and sounds of our neighborhood!  
 
Lesson learned: Always stick to known areas at night!