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Published: November 16th 2006
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Cant believe it’s November (I know I said the same about October!), it’s so hot here - or so they keep telling me winter….cool…. Feeling much better today, so back to more reasonable morning starts. First thing I want to do today is try and get my emirates ticket changed. Usual problem of getting to the exit then not knowing which way to go. I choose a direction and start walking. After about 10 minutes I don’t see anything that seems familiar so I go into a shop to ask if they know where it is. They don’t understand me but we get by with pointing at the map, and they tell me that it’s near Asok. That’s the station I’ve just come from. Decide to try a taxi. He doesn’t know where it is but he does find the street that it’s on and I manage to find the building. This time it goes fine. I get in, which is a good start, and now have my new tickets for January.
I’ve decided today that I’m going to got to Wat Saket and the Golden Mount, which is next to it. The Golden Mount is the more interesting place as
it’s an artificial hill that was built by one of the King Rama’s (sorry not been listening to my Thai history lessons!), and on the top is a pagoda that is supposed to contain some relics of the Buddha i.e. some of his ashes. I get a taxi…and guess what…he doesn’t know where it is!! Maybe I have a business plan here, I’m thinking something equivalent to London cabbies “the knowledge”? I show him my map and where I want to go and he spends the next 5 minutes working out his route. We get there fairly quickly, I think my sense of direction was better than his! The entry to Wat Saket is surprising as it’s made up of a market and funfair. Makes sense I guess, if you know that people are going to be coming there to visit it’s the best place to make some money. Walk up the steps of the mount and there are some fantastic views of the surrounding area. Then climb up to the pagoda. I walk round a few times and watch people as they say their prayers to Buddha. Then I buy a small bell from a monk and join in.
he gives me a free calendar as well! Walk back down and come out a completely different way. Yikes! No market or fairground in sight, it’s all food stalls. Oh well, start walking…… work my way round to the entrance again and try to hail a taxi…not easy. I move up and down the road trying to find the best spot. I think that I might get one when they drop people off at the entrance. I get in one and get thrown out. Either he didn’t want to go where I wanted to, or he didn’t like the look/sound of me!! I walk further down the road and this is where today’s (maybe the weeks/months?) funny story happens. Ahem…
Whilst I’ve been standing waiting for a taxi there’s been a boy laying asleep on the pavement. His head is on his bag and he’s laid on a sack. I cant believe that people are just walking over him and I’m worried whether he’s ok. Eventually I go over to him and shake his arm gently to check if he’s ok. He doesn’t wake up, but at least I know he’s alive, he’s not stiff or cold. I stand there
for a bit longer and I’m still worried. I see that he’s moving a little bit so I go over again and shake him gently. This time he wakes up and I try to mime asking him if he’s ok. He keeps shrugging his shoulders. Then I try miming asking him if he wants something to eat. It takes a while, but I think he eventually understands me a she gets up and we walk over to the food stalls. I point at food and he nods so I get some chicken and give it to him. The people that serve me are smiling, but not laughing….. I think they probably did that when my back was turned. Anyway…once I'd given him the chicken he gave me a kiss on the cheek, which I thought was a sweet way of saying thank you. I started to walk off…and he started following me. I tried to mime again that ok that was us through….and he tried to kiss me again….with tongue!!! And he stank of alcohol. So I'd just “rescued” a drunk who had passed out on the street!!!!!!!!! No wonder people were “smiling” at me. He’s probably the local drunk who thought he’d got lucky! Typical. Other people have the stories of how they gave food to someone and they were so grateful to be helped….. I use my kind heart to soak up a booze heads hangover. Wonder what that will do for my karma?? I start walking off again, and he’s still following me. He’s not too steady on his feet though so I manage to outpace him!
Stand on a street corner again to try and hail a taxi, but they all have people in them. Move on a bit and try somewhere else (I move on when I start drawing too much attention….). When it’s getting to the praying stage a bright pink taxi pulls up when I’m not even looking and I jump in, lock the door and put the seatbelt on. He’s not getting rid of me! I tell him I want to go to Wat Pho as that’s the nearest place to the pier I need to be at that I think he’ll understand. He looks at me and says quizzically “Wat Peeuuuaaarrrrr?” I try again about three times, then get an elocution lesson from him on how to say Po!! Finally get to the pier. It’s the one where I’ll go to do the massage course and the water is really high. You have to walk on the planks they have put up, which seemed so strange when I was here before. Now I understand why they are here. Stagger into the hotel at 5.10 (I was due to meet someone form the tailors at 5 to collect my altered clothes. He’s not here yet luckily so I slump in a sofa and look at the paper. Not sure I fit the Hilton high class image - I haven’t seen myself but can imagine that I’m covered in grime from all the pollution I’ve waded through today. After seeing the tailor I take a much needed shower and pretty much just collapse into bed - at about 8pm
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