Last night in Bangkok (really)

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We woke up feeling a bit sluggish, and John wasn't up for travelling, so we stayed in Bangkok for yet another day (and we were just supposed to arrive, get our visas, and get out!). So we had a leisurely morning at our favourite spot for banana pancakes - the Merry V guesthouse. Some of the guidebooks and web sites I've read have used the unflattering term 'banana pancake trail' to describe a well-trodden tourist route of spots where foreigners congregate. Maybe so, but banana pancakes are delicious! I don't know where they came from - they're not something I've ever eaten at home, so having a banana pancake is as exotic to me as eating green coconut curry!

Afterwards we went to Wat Mahatat for a meditation class. It was tricky to find, since the Wat was bigger than it looked from the front gate and the person we spoke to at the information desk didn't know much about the classes. We were eventually directed to someone who spoke English, and they showed us to 'Sector 5' of the Wat, where we were met by a Buddhist monk who gave us some reading material that explained the meditation rituals. Once we'd had a chance to review the booklet, we headed downstairs with our teacher, set up our mats, and started the class. It wasn't quite what we thought it would be - she first explained that while we were meditating we could acknowledge when we were distracted by external events or by our thoughts, but we weren't supposed to dwell on them. So if there was a loud noise outside that caught our attention, we were supposed to think, 'hearing, hearing, hearing' and then go back to what we were doing. We started with a long, deliberate walk, where we first focused on standing, then on our intention to walk, and then on the movements of our feet as we walked. When we reached the end of the room, we stopped, thought about standing, our intention to turn, and then did a turn in three sets of steps. We walked up and down for about 20 minutes, and then we moved to sitting meditation, where we focused on our breath through the movement of our stomachs. It was a bit uncomfortable to sit so still, and I was ready to move after 20 minutes. We both thought the class was worthwhile, and we may give it a try again if we have an extra day somewhere.

We went down to Chinatown to see the massive golden Buddha at Wat Traimit, which had been hidden in a stucco cast to protect it from invading armies. Afterwards we took a stroll through Chinatown (somehow managing to miss the busy section!) and had dinner by the waterfront.

The next day we finally got our act together, and got on the bus for Ayutthaya.

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Photos

Guesthouse Billboard
English teaching etc, but also a few notices to visit jailed tourists in Bangkok prison - a nice reminder to behave yourself!