Shangmaid!

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An interesting day . .

Last night when I got back to my hotel I realised that I had no idea where the light switches were. When I'd booked in it had been broad daylight so I'd had no reason to find out. Therte were light swiches foir the hallway and the bathroom and that was fine. BUt when I got back yesaterday evening, I realised that I had no idea where the switches for the bedroom were. I looked around as best I could in the darkness and there were no switches anywhere. I tried the switches on the desk lamps also to no avail, no electicity. Finally I realised that there was a control panel next to my bed that controlled all the lights. And, as the Torah says, there was light.

It was sometime later that I realised that the same controil panel also controlled the air conditioning, which although welcome on warm nights, was also very noisy.

And finally I discovered that the same p[anel also controled acess to the TV. I could watch Spartacus! But I didn't, exccept to check that Kirk Douglas was still on the same doomed path. I tries to go to sleep.

But I was baulked in this att4empt bythe noise. Musiuc, music, music from all around. Quite nice, nothing I didn't like - except I wanted to go to sleep. I dozed occassionally, much as I had done on the plane, until the music stopped and I could sleep. I awke by my alarm at 6.30am and promptly went back to sleep again.

I wanted to charge my iPhone but found that, despite what I'd been told, the hotel's sockets were US in nature and not EU. Fortunately, I had bought a US adapter at the airport, having finaly read my instructions for my stint of volunteering at Krabi which stated that US adapters would be needed.

I awoke at 9 and, realising that the last time for breakfast was 10, quickly shaved and showered.

Breakfast was in the Buddy Restaurant, outside the hotel.

It's not just a Buddy Lodge, you see, but practically a Buddy Mall. There's Buddy Fashion. Buddy Travel and the Buddy Restaurant, let alon the MacDonalds that is also hosted there. And there are no fewer than 5 ATM machines at the entrance, all competing with one another with various special offers in Thai posted on each machine.

When I go back I expect I will be standing before them unable to choose which one to take money from. THe only differentiating factor from my point of view - as the Thai special offers are incomprehensible - is their colour. I shall just have to decide which colour pleases me most.

And I shall need to withdraw some money - as I will now explain.

After breakfast I was still half asleep and jet lagged. My watch told me it was 10 o'clock but I knew that in England it was really four o'clock in the morning - a time for sleep. Still, I stumbled out intending to go and see some Buddhas and was immediatley confronted by rabid tuk-tuk drivers.

If it was the tailors yesterday, it was the tuk-tuk drivers today. As soon as I left the hotel they collared me amd forced me to say where I was going. I had no idea, of course. I was just walking blindly, only half awake.

So, this tuk-tuk man offered to take me on a tour of the Buddhas - standing Buddha, lucky Buddha, sleeping Buddha etc - and it seemed like a good idea.

The standing Buddha was amazing. gold coloured and mountain like he stood proudly in his temple. I bought some caged birds and let them free in fron to the Buddha, which I hope was a meritorious act. The last bird was scared and didn't want to leave its cage. I blew on it to encourage it, to no avail and finally I placed the cage on the ground and let the bird make its own mind up. Finally it decided for freedom amd flew away and I returned the cage to the vendor.

Does it make sense for someone to capture birds or breed them in captivity, so that someone else can free them. I don't know. I hope the birds are ok.

I knelt in front of the Buddha and lit candles in his honour, giving praise to what is probably the highest point that a human can reach and then tried to return to my tuk-tuk.

That temple was a maze. Every way seemed the same and took me back to a beggar. I gave him a few coins and thatnmked him for the opportunity of having done so in my best Thai - kop kun khrap. He gave nme a mint. BUt I kept passing him every few minutes, trying to find my tuk-tuk.

Eventually, I found it! And the driver told me that next we would visit the lucky Buddha - which sounded fine - and then a gift factory which didn't.

I didn't want to carry on, so I paid himn 40 baht, which was very cheap, and decided to walk.

My map showed me where I was and I walked for a while down to the river and along the rivewr through a fruit market. I have never seen such smal bananas before! Most of the other stuff looked like fruit or veg you copuold get in England, but they also had some very mini bananas. I didn't buy anything and, as the heat of the day wqas getting oppresive, I eventually b owed to reason and caught a tuk-tuk back to Khao San where I bought some flip flops and had a quick coffe in a rather un-Thailandish Starbucks.

Refreshed and with my new footware, I got another tuk-tuk to the temple of the Emerald Buddha, not really emerald but jade but still very, very nice. The temple is next to the royal palace and I spent some time exploring both places and the museums attached thereto. The temple is amazingly beautiful but best seen from a distance. When you get close you can see the reality of the stones and mosaic used but from afar it glimmers and shines like a miracle. Familiarity breeds . .

A few more people had recommended TAT and, as I had no idea what I would be doing tomorrow, I finally went and booked myself on a Kanchanaburi tour for the next three days - I'll let you know what transpires.

Then back to the hotel for a shower and change.

I decide to walk down to the Democracy Monument as this was conveniently situated near Khao San Road.

As I approached it a Thai man asked me "Do you know what that is?". So I told him that I did and that it was the Democracy Monument. And he agreed - we were in no doubt that thet that was what is was, we were in perfect accord and seemed to be soulmates.

He told me that he was from Chiang Mai, although I misheard it as Shanghai until it became quite apparent that he was as Thai as they come. He was just walking to see the Democracy monument and then on to the Golden Buddha and then was going to eat and go on to a student bar.

And pretty soon it became apparent that we were both going to do these things and that I woujld be paying half the bill.

I didn't mind - I wanted to go with the flow and also to eat some real Thai food (something told me that purists might not consider a caramel frappucino in Starbucks as qualifying) - and he seemed like a geniune person.

So we went to the temple where he prayed and I took some photos (largest gold buddha in one pices in the world) and then went on to a restaurant which he said was one of the very best.

It didn't look that much and was very small (four tables) but he vouched for it and told me that there were tax advantages to having so small an establishment. He ordered dear meat and fish soup. I had beer and he had brandy with soda. I ended up helping hijm with the brandy after my beer was finished.

The meal was very nice - there were green vegetables of some tyoe too and I had a go with the chopsticks but ended up using a fork. Even he had to use a spoon for the soup.

He persuaded me to carry on and join hom in visiting a "student bar" afterwards.

The meat was deer and so was the bill. Three thousan baht for the two of us. Thirty pounds each - I told him that that was more than I'd usually pay fopr a meal, but he thought it was cheap. I said I'd stay for an hour at the student bar.

Wow!

More beer, more brandy. And beutiful youing women pole dancing and sitting next to me and chatting. I was worried that mnore might be involved but apparently not, though I had to pay another two thousand baht as my share. Good value I suppose for chatting to "Yasmin" and the massage she gave me.

Then back to Khao San road and this blog.

Will I get up in time for the trip tomorrow - seven o'clock. Only time will tell . .

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Comments

[Tara]

Well done!
So pleased you arrived safely and are enjoying yourself! Keep up the blogging!