As we walked along what little was left of the sidewalk, we soon discovered that the flooding had driven thousands of cockroaches and rats out of their homes, and they were now walking right alongside us. They were almost impossible to avoid because the sidewalks were so crowded, and Fernando even had a roach crawl up the back of his leg. Ew! I kept thinking they would slide off the awnings and into my hair. Needless to say, the crowds were dissipating, and we left.
Meris, before the rain with Chinese New Year noisemaker:
Friday I finally did my first touristy Bangkok thing and went to Wat Pho, a temple that's so close it's pathetic that it took me six weeks to get there. It was absolutely stunning. In one of the rooms is a golden statue of a reclining Buddha who is actually so big he's impossible to view all at once:
To give some perspective:
To be honest, that part was a little touristy, even though we went at practically closing time, but it was so beautiful I don't even care.
The other parts of the temple were my favorite. One room had a much smaller Buddha, but was actually being used by monks to worship. They were all sitting before the Buddha, chanting in unison. It was so relaxing. This might sound silly, but when I was in there, just kneeling and listening to the monks chant, I felt really at ease. I think I'm going to go back and let sitting there be a stress aid for me. (Not that I think Thailand, land of smiles, will ever get stressful.)
That night we found out about a modern dance show performed in a park near Thammasat, so we headed that way. We put bets on when the show would actually start (supposed to start at 7 p.m., but taking Thai time into account). I think it actually started about 45 minutes late. It was a perfect, breezy night. Afterwards I took a break from going out and got a Thai massage instead. I have been really scared of getting them. Thai massages are supposed to really work your joints and muscles, and can really hurt, but after the awful 11-hour bus rides to and from Koh Samui, my muscles had never fully recovered, so I was ready to be pulled and prodded. As it turns out, it was nothing except a bit more vigorous normal massage, and I think that's the sort of massage I'm going to get all the time now. (Muahaha, that's right, all the time; they only cost $10.)
Modern dance show:
The next day, Saturday, everyone left for the Tiger Temple. Since I had already gone I opted out and went to the JJ market, aka the Chatachuk Weekend Market, that has the cheapest and largest selection of clothes. I had a ton of fun, and met up with two Thai friends who bargained for me (made things a lot easier). I ended up spending about $25 for three dresses and a shirt. What a cheap way to get my shopping fix! I looooove Thai prices.
That night we went to a club on Thong Lor, Santika. We got there a bit late, of course, (it's really hard to move eight people anywhere quickly), and because of that we couldn't find a spot on the floor. We headed upstairs, and spent the whole night overlooking the rest of the club. I really liked it, because we had a fantastic view of the band, and it gave us tons of room to dance. I think dancing is my favorite thing to do here, and too often I find myself stepping out of my heels to make it easier. (It's really gross the next day, when my feet are black.)
Sunday we tried so hard to get a lot done. First, dressed in our school uniforms (so that we could get in for free), we tried to get into the Grand Palace. Again, it's really lame that it took me six weeks to get there. From what I can tell, the place is beyond magnificent. When we got there, though, our Thammasat i.d.s weren't good enough because they weren't laminated, so we were turned away and told to by tickets. We opted to go another time with a Thai student, since everyone else who has done that has had no problems.
Us after we were shunned from the palace; from left we have Andy, Mat, Meris, Jake, me and Fernando:
Our next stop was this amazing Thai restaurant within walking distance from the palace. We had been there once before and really wanted to take Fernando. We walked... and walked... and walked. And when we finally found the place, in congruence with our luck of the day, it was closed.
Finally, we decided to cut our losses and check out Wat Arun, another temple down the river. We split up into two taxis. When my taxi was getting close, however, I got a call from Andy saying the temple was closed. Of course it was. We headed home, tired and really much less cranky than we should have been from all of that traveling for no reason. My taxi had a lot of trouble explaining to the driver that we were no longer going to Wat Arun, and could we please go to Pata Pinklao. He didn't understand, but in the fashion of most Thais was much too nice about it. When we finally got home he actually tried to charge us less for the taxi than it was. He thought the mistake was his. The best part is, when we later Google imaged Wat Arun, Fernando (from the taxi that said the temple was closed) told us that's not where they had been. In all likelihood, Wat Arun had been open the whole time, and Andy and Fernando had just been at the wrong place. Mai pben rai.
Lastly - and I don't know why I've failed to mention this - I've now eaten both a bug (I think it was a cricket) and dried squid. There's a video of me eating the bug, but I'm having trouble uploading it, so I'll leave you with this:
Look appetizing? It tastes like squid jerky.
1 comment:
Wee, killer entry. I'm all caught up now. It does sound like one endless party. Good thing everyone seems to get along so well.
Mommy
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