I know I said that I was going to write something about each place I've visited - and I will - but first I'll update you on my current adventures in Bangkok.
Although I am thrilled, excited and exhilarated to be traveling by myself for the first time, I have to admit that doing my own thing usually results in sore feet at the end of the day. I also get lost quite often; I find myself praying to G-d several times a day that I'm going in the right direction (I thank Him/Her profusely when I finally get to my destination). When I do finally get to the point where I have no idea where I am and the heat has worn me down - that's when I finally conceed defeat and hail a cab.
Speaking of heat, the weather is really getting to me here. It's surprising because I was fine in India, which is a good 10 degrees hotter than Bangkok. It's the humidity that does me in. After 30 minutes of walking I'm already exhausted. I push on though, which can be incredibly frustrating when I'm lost. N.B. I'm not a horrible navigator (though I can be a bit directionally challenged); all of the official Bangkok maps only have major streets labeled on them. And sometimes not even the major ones. Ugh.
Today's post is a little jumpy. Sorry. It's been a long day.
After dealing with some administrative stuff regarding my house back home, I headed off to engross myself in Thailand's history. My destination was the National Museum. Of course I got lost around the way - I attempted to ask four different people for directions and then eventually found the Pier. N.B. It's easier to travel by boat to the temple area than by car, where you can be stuck in traffic for hours.
Keeping with the theme of getting lost, I also boarded the wrong boat. It was a 'tourist' boat, complete with a Thai tour guide whose accent was so thick that I couldn't understand a word she said. Because I was on this 'river tour', I ended up paying twice the price for my boat ride. Oh well. It was still less than $1 CDN.
Luckily, I did make it to the museum without any major issues. The museum contains some amazing artifacts. Amazing isn't really a suitable word...they are breathtaking, awe inspiring, grandious, [insert some other descriptor here]. I managed to take a few 'no no' photographs, so I'll try to post them here. Unfortunately, the building itself doesn't do the museum justice.
First of all, there's no air conditioning. Imagine trying to keep your attention on ceramics or buddha heads when you're dying of heat. Meanwhile in every single room a guard sits in front of a fan, carefully tracking your movements to make sure you don't take any forbidden photographs.
I love learning about new cultures and historical events, but at the end I was skipping by the multitude of Buddhas from different periods. I think I also missed out on a chunk of history on the Thai royalty (don't ask me about the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th King. Actually don't ask me about the 6th, 7th or 8th one either). They're on their 9th. I know a bit about him.
After finishing up at the museum I was famished. It was around 2 or 3 at this point. I was so hungry that I ended up having a meal at the sketchiest place you have ever seen. It was at the pier. I'm sure there were cockroaches running around in the back, but I tried not to think about it. I ended up ordering just vegetables and fried rice. You can't get sick off of a vegetarian dish, right? LOL.
At lunch I actually met a older Thai couple who sat down at my table with their yuppie coffee drinks. We got to talking and they expressed concern that I was traveling alone. So, they gave me their number in case I run into any problems in Thailand. How sweet is that! I was very touched.
After lunch I headed back to the pier closest to my hostel. There was a huge fire directly across the river. I took a few pictures (below). I was debating whether to whip out my camera or not (because I felt horrible looking at it as another 'snap worthy' scene). What really bothered me though, more than others gawking at it, were the girls that posed happily with the fire in the background. They thought it would make a great photo! Ugh. People could have been dying in that fire! I don't think most of the people snapping pics really were thinking about the tragedy of it all...I tried to at least be mindful of this point... [I know, I may be a bit hypocritical].
My final stop of the day was Paragon Mall. This mall is the largest in SE Asia. It's like a mall on steroids. Actually, it's even beyond that. It's a mall on a type of steroid that hasn't even been invented yet. It's hard to describe...but it's definitely overwhelming. I find it funny that such a devote Buddhist country like Thailand (where one should shed materialistic values) can thrive on this hyper-consumerism. Because I couldn't afford anything in the mall, I ended up taking pictures of the art and the statements it made (intentially or otherwise).
Oh, I forgot to mention something! I got a makeover at Laura Mercer by a ladyboy (i.e. a transvestite). After a while I was wondering if I was looking at just a very ugly girl. However, I wandered by MAC and another lady boy answered one of my questions (related to makeup). It's nice to see that they are accepted as legimitate employees here. They can be themselves and dress anyway they like (as long as they're in black - dress code and all).
That's enough for now. It's only 9:15 but I'm ready for bed. I apologize if this post wasn't witty or interesting. P.S. I hate blogspot. The formatting is all wonky.
Be well.
No comments:
Post a Comment