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Published: November 17th 2006
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I’m going to have another attempt at finding the monks bowl village today (does stubbornness come from my dads side - I WILL find this place!), and decide to try it from a different angle. I look at my map and work out another route, starting from a different pier. Amazingly I find it straight away. This time the road is straight, and called the same on the map as the road sign. I go to Wat Suthat first. As it’s a little off the tourist track it’s much quieter than the other temples, but beautiful and interesting. Especially good are the statues/monuments that depict different times in Buddha’s life. My memory of my visit here, however, will always be affected by turning a corner in the temple to find a man relieving himself. And not in a toilet way. Noooooo this was a different kind of relief he was getting altogether. I don’t know how to shout you dirty pervert in Thai so, in a very English manner, I quietly turn on my heels and leave him to it. He was probably relieved (uh, bad choice of word) it wasn’t some little thai woman. She would have definitely screamed at
him, and probably hit him! That’s the second time I’ve been flashed at in four days!!
From (forever tainted) Wat Suthat the next place would have been The Giant Swing. This is just across the road and is currently…not there….there is just green netting. Wat Suthat is open until 9.30 pm though so I’ll leave it until the end of the week then come back in the evening.
From here it should be a straight walk to the democracy monument, and it is. Why couldn’t I find it so easily the last time(s)? when I get there it’s not very interesting though. As I’m about to head back to the river I remember the monks bowl village -and realise that I should have headed in a different direction form Wat Suthat to get there. So off I go again back towards where I’ve just come from. It’s so hot I must be mad to be doing all this walking. My fingers and hands are so swollen. It was affecting my ankles but that’s settled down now and it’s moved to my hands. I think about giving up as this road seems so long, and I don’t even know if I’m
on the right one. There’s so much traffic and pollution, I have to wait for so long to cross one road that I end up coughing form so many fumes. I’d really like to see this though so I decide to give it another 20 minutes, then if I cant find it I’ll head back and maybe try another day. I stop and look at my map when I see a road sign, and I am on the right road heading in the right direction. Amazing! The shops around here are interesting, and providing some hope of being in the right area, as they are making and selling Buddha images in every size. There are some huge ones, I would love one of those - especially the standing ones - and the bells that they have in the temples. Again I’m starting to think about giving up as I cant find the road that I need to turn off onto. I’m almost at Wat Saket, and if I reach there I know that I’ve gone too far. I can see a bridge ahead that looks like the bridge near Wat Saket. I’m going to go to that bridge and see
where I am. If it doesn’t look promising from there I’ll turn back. I wait about 10 minutes to get across the road, and then when the green man comes on I still almost get run over. They just ignore traffic lights here! Once I get to the bridge I realise that it isn’t the one near Wat Saket (good), and once I get over there’s a sign for Monks Bowl Village (even better). I go down the road and see another sign, so I go down that road. This is way better than trying to follow maps! I get to the end of a long, thin alleyway where there’s another sign. A little, old, toothless Thai woman comes over to me and points at the sign. When I nod my head she beckons me to follow her and scurries off down the alleyway. She keeps beckoning me to follow and I try to keep up, following her through a rabbits warren of alleyways, all the time thinking that I really hope this is legit. Here I am, on my own, following someone to I don’t know where…and I know that I wouldn’t be able to find my way back
out again. I keep reminding myself that I’m in Thailand, they’re all Buddhist, and their precepts are..do not kill, do not steal. Encouragingly, I tell myself, I can hear hammering which hopefully is the making of alms bowls. After twisting and turning down alleyways past people eating, washing, smoking…..she passes me over to a man in a sarong, and the journey continues. Eventually we get to a cupboard with some alms bowls in it, and a picture of the queen. I ask if I can see them being made and we set off down alleyways again. Then there it is, men and women sat hammering, soldering and making alms bowls. Take a couple of pictures then buy my very own alms bowl for 800 Baht. I choose a black one and, he shows me a picture of a monk to show me that they have black ones too. Thankfully he then takes me back down the warren of alleys back to the street and, happy now that I’ve finally found these places (especially the monks bowl village), I set off back to the river. I’m even able to help a couple who haven’t a clue where they are by showing
Democracy Monument
Just to prove that i did find it... them the exact spot on the map! On the way back to the hotel I get the boat from Tha Chang, near the Grand Palace. I must have the hardened look of a non tourist now as I don’t get hassled once, or they‘re just sick of the sight of me! On the way back I pass a diner and have a plate of chicken with basil, chilli and rice and a can of beer for £3.30. It’s very good, but I’m glad that I asked for it not too hot though. My last spoonful has a piece of chilli in it and I consider asking for a glass of milk to try and cool my throbbing lips down!
I should add a little about the massage course here. Today would have been my last day for starting to be able to fit one course in (although I‘m 99% certain that I‘ll come back to Bangkok after Kanchanaburi), and I did set my alarm to get up and make a decision. After having the massage though, and talking to people, it seems as though the training is more geared to tourists. Not really what I was looking to do. To be honest I think I’ve also been put off because they don’t do the training at the temple, it’s across the road by the river. That had been part of the appeal. So as I’m enjoying just wandering and really getting to know Bangkok I decided today that I’m going to do just one course, probably the foot massage so that it’s something different to what I already do, and I’ll get the certificate. But I’m going to leave it until I get back from Kanchanaburi.
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