Monkeys, Culture, and a haircut

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So far our travels have been amazing, we have eaten a lot of great food, met some interesting peple, and seen some increadable sites. But our traveling has not been without rocks in the road. We left on this journey with the hope to learn more about the culture in which we are traveling in. Well we have learned a lot but at the same time it is difficult to understand Thai culture, or any culture for that matter, without knowing the language. As it is, we can only observe, and guess why things happen the way they do rather than receive feedback from the locals. Even if we could speak the language we would still be ignorant of some aspects of Thai life because we are not Thai. Since we wish to travel the world but cannot learn every language, we will have to use this journey as a way to connect with people on a deeper level than words. Things here in Thailand may always seem strange to us, but that is the reason we are here. We are loving every minute of it.

Today we visited Phra Narai Ratchaniwet, a palace in Lopburi that dates back to 1688. Part of the palace is in ruins, the other part has been restored and holds a museum. The museum holds many ancient artifacts, some dating back 3000 years. The artifacts are based in Hindu and Buddhist culture. Many of them were produced for arts sake, as ornate decorative pieces to mold door frames. I, Jonathan, wish I knew more about this ancient art and culture, but in college art history classes I only learned about western art. I am sure there were some courses on Asian art, but one has to go out of their way to learn about it. These figures were well crafted and very diverse stylistically. Some had very exagerated mouths and eyes, giving them a cartoony look. While others were meant to be representations of Buddhist and Hindu Gods. Many of the small figurines reminded me of Minoan art.

On to another subject, hot water is a luxuary item as far as hotels are concerned in Thailand. Not having hot water is not that bad since it is so hot here anyway. It is like taking a cold shower in Florida during the summer, the water is never really cold. But when we do get a room with hot water there is a small water heater connected to the shower head. This is a very efficient way to heat water, see the water is heated instantly when the device is turned on. It also provides unlimited hot water, unlike large water heaters that run out and must heat a large tank of water again. I find this device very useful and would consider buyng one for myself if they sold them in the states.

Crazy monkeys! Well Lompburi is know for its packs of monkeys that roam the city, and it is true there are thousands of monkeys here. We just went to on of the temples where all of the monkeys hang out and sure enough they were there. They were also on the power lines, shaking the street lamps, climbing on buildings, and reaking harmless havok on the city. Many of the locals seem playfully irritated with the monkeys, but they deal with them by shaking sticks with ropes at them to scare them away from store fronts. This techinique does work, but with so many monkeys around it is hard to keep them away for long. I could truely watch monkeys play all day long, they are full of suprises.

Friendly locals! Today we bought another phone card so we could call our families, but we were unable to get the darn thing to work. We have used this particular phone card before, but this time it seems that there is something with the only pay phone in town that will accept this card. Since we were having so much trouble some of the locals tried to help. First a friendly street vendor started talking to us in Thai, telling us what to try next. Then she sent another local over to help us, since she could not leave her stand. He proceded to ask us for the card and then he placed it into the phone card slot to try and get it to work. Unfortunally he failed also, so he called a 7-11 employee to help us. She came out of the store and attempted to use the card but could not get it to work either, so she appologized and let us be. The people here are friendly and will try to help you if you are in need. We will try to use the phone card again in Bangkok.

Finally a haircut! I just finished getting my hair cut from a local barber. This barber reminded me of what old time barber shops in the states are like i.e. Prices Barber Shop in St. Augustine, yet more authentic. This place has old fashon chairs that recline back so you can get a facial shave. This place is full service. The man that cut my hair was very good, trimming off any odd spots on my head. He spent a good five minutes evening out my hair, so I won't look silly when I walk the streets of Thailand. He then finished up by putting after shave on my neck and side burns and used a straight razor to shave off the left over hair. He did a wonderful job. The hair cut came to 50 baht, about $1.15. I gave him 80 baht and thanked him. It was a great experience, but not too different from a haircut that I would get at home, except the quality was as good if not better and the price was great. Since I hate getting haircuts because they $12.00, $15.00 with tip, I think I will get a few here in Asia since they are much cheaper and at least I will look good while traveling in dirty clothes.

We will update pictures of the monkeys and other sites in this town later, next we are back to Bangkok and then off to Singapore.

Until next time,
Jonathan and Zara

Sorry if we misspelled anything, well I should say I Jonathan, since I cannot spell my own name without a dictionary.

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Photos

Monkey Fun
When I would but my safety stick in front of this monkey she would reach out and grab it, then make the funnest face. I did not get a picture of the actual face, but this is close.

Palace
Palace photo