Oh man, so many mixed feelings, so many different emotions. Yesterday, I was a complete wreck for the first time since I have arrived in Thailand. Dani, Morgan and I were all in Bangkok and they were leaving the next day. First of all...I now understand why Bangkok is just a place where people pass through. We (well just me now) are staying right near Khaosan Road which is really just a shit show. It is a place where foreigners come to and get completely wasted, do stupid things, and pay off the Thai police to not go to jail...not to mention it is soooo hot here, I am a puddle of sweat everywhere I go. I hate it and can not wait to get out of here and return to another cute smaller city or a nice beach town. However, there are a lot of must see's here so I will stay another day here before leaving for Siem Reap and Angkor Wat in Cambodia.
After having a slight anxiety provoked breakdown last night (I almost cried, but instead talked to a very special person back home...i love Skype...and watched some Two and a Half Men) and felt much better. I got up this morning, switched my hostel to a more enjoyable one, and told myself that today was going to be a better day.
And with that, it has been. It is only 7 pm and my day has been chalked full of interesting experiences. I started out my day by trying to head to see the reclining buddha, a must see when visiting Bangkok. I met a friend of Dani's last night and she had given us directions on how to get there by river boat, so I thought that I would give that a try. I was trying to make my way to the river boat and stopped to take a picture of the King Rama 111 monument and a Thai teacher came up to me and told me that today is a buddhist holiday and everything that I wanted to see would be closed, except for a few places. Instead, he informed me, the government tuk tuks, the ones with the yellow license plates would be only 10 baht, which is about 30 cents, for where ever I want to go. This is because there is a promotion going on and the government is giving them coupons for their gas money.
He flagged down and talked to a tuk tuk driver where we all agreed on 10 baht and we went off on our way. The first place that I went was the temple of the blue buddha. This was actually really cool because they were refinishing it with gold. The temple was under construction and they allowed me to see how they put gold flakes on top of the siding to preserve it for a longer time. There was supposed to be a Thai kick boxing and dancing show at the time I was there, but it was so hot that it got postponed to the evening.
Then we went to wat Benchamabophit, which is known as the marble temple. This was amazing. The amount of work and detail that is put into these temples is amazing. It was also a special day at this temple. The bank of Thailand just so happened to be having a celebration full of free food and informative and friendly Thai people.
After this I went to wat Intrawihan, the VERY LARGE golden Buddha. 32 meters high and 10 meters wide, this was definitely a site to see. It is all 10 carrot gold and a very important and iconic statue to the Thai people. It was very interesting and beautiful to see people come and give prayer and offering at his feet.
So here comes the twist in the story...it is Thailand after all! I found out after being carted around all day, that part of the promotion is though seamstress shops. So, in order for my tuk tuk driver to get the gas coupon that he needed, I had to go into the shop and pretend for ten minutes that I wanted to get a dress or suit made for me. I failed the first two times!! The first shop that I went in, I did't realize my mission. From my point of view, at first, I was going to visit a large factory that Bangkok was widely known for. When we pulled up to a small tailor shop, I was a bit confused, but went in with the best intentions of learning the culture. With this false pretense in the back of my mind, I asked lots of questions about the industry and nothing about a possible dress purchase...needless to say...we did not get a gas card. The next time we tried, the man was very pushy and told me that I don't know what color or style I want, I am not going to buy a dress, get out of his store. I began to talk back (I am a stubborn scorpio, after all) but decided to stop while I was ahead. At the last shop I was determined. Not only for my tuk tuk friend, but because I wanted to go home! (Promised I would be home to Skype and gosh darn-it, no gas coupon was going to stand in my way!) In this shop, I pulled out all the stops..looked through all the catalogues, mixed and matched the dress I wanted them to make, and when they only had solid fabric, told them I wanted a pattern. A very nice "you have put in your time and wasted mine" later we had our gas card and I was on my way home!!!
Overall, a pretty good day. I am still having difficulty adjusting at this point, but I think it is where I am and it can only get better from here.
I got told yesterday that traveling is whatever you want to make of it. The first time my friend traveled, she did not try at all to make friends, and therefore she didn't. However, in some places that is how you want it to be. To explore for yourself. Then on her next vacation, she was open and went with the intention of making friends and came out with a family. For me, I think that Khaosan Road is really quite the opposite of what I am looking for and because of this I think I am ok with exploring by myself for the next couple of days. I just really don't understand how people want to come from all over and experience Thailand, yet stay in an area where I look up and all I see are foreigners...lets just say, if I was not traveling alone I would not be staying here!
The plan:
1. One more day in Bangkok to see the reclining buddha, wat prakaeo (the temple of the emerald buddha), and wat arun ratchawararam (temple of dawn)
2. head on the train or bus to the border of cambodia,then take a share bus into siem reap
3. Cambodia: siem reep, ankor wat, floating markets, and phnom penh (a sturring reminder of the genocide of 17,000 Cambodian civilians)
4.back to Thailand to Koa Toa for scuba diving
5. Crabbi to Tonsai beach to do some climbing
6. AUsTRALIA!!! so excited to see you dave and warren!!!!
maybe you should have just picked a dress! You could ship it back here and I can store it under the futon... since SearchKitty doesn't live there anymore. I think I might rename her FoundKitty. She is actually sleeping on the futon right now, and the dogs are on the floor! I have also been waking up to find her sleeping on the bed with me! I think she finally feels at home.
ReplyDeleteAs for Destroy, she is crazy as usual! Sitting in the bay window jungle, keeping an eye on the neighborhood.
Keep your head up, have fun. Remember that even on your worst day, in all the heat, all of us in Seattle are jealous!