Taste of Thai Part II

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"Hey, holy man, good beard! You need amulet. Good fortune," A small cross-eyed Thai in a Slipknot t-shirt advises me.

Wow, that's better than the Turkish tout saying to me, "hey, my BEST friend. You need carpet, sale price!"

I tell him, "No, I'm good."

Second only in popularity with large golden buddhas and stupas and spirit houses and 7-11's are the small golden, bronze, bone, wooden, or silver buddhas to ward off evil, bring good fortune, good merit, good food, good sex, or simply help you cross the street without breaking a leg. I was doing fairly good in those areas, so I passed on his offer. I had reached my quota of amulets for today.

I am at the end of my short week in Thailand and I suppose I packed in as much as I could. I am staying in Soi 1 Guesthouse in central Bangkok, which is quite unconventional. Upon arriving in Bangkok, most travellers head to Kao San Road. Even if you don't know where to stay, the taxi drivers will just take a look at you at the airport and say, "yup, Kao San," and take you there. Kao San is the ultimate backpacker crowd and many would-be vagabonds and adventure seekers start their journeys here. Once I saw Kao San I wasn't impressed...quite touristy, but maybe it was just because I was ending my journey in Thailand rather than beginning it.

Despite the efficient public transportation I spent a lot of time simply walking through the city, seeing what I could bump into. I strolled through Chinatown and gawked at the assorted mundane and bizarre things your find there like rows of spices and nuts and of course amulets and huge bags of dried crickets and hanging ducks. The oldest chinese temple in Thailand is also down here with a mix of Confucian, Taoist, and Buddhist worship and art.

Just to shake it up a bit, I stumbled into the Snake Venom center run by the Thai Red Cross Society. They produce anti-venoms and distribute them across the country. It seemed like the appropriate thing in Thailand to experience a cobra milking and hold a python.

Well, I've got to head back to the good 'ol USA now. I only got a small taste of Thailand, but I loved every minute of it! Bangkok is energetic, bizarre, exotic yet contemporary, cosmopolitan and above all fascinating! But even this small glimpse assured me that I will come back and do the whole SE Asia circuit someday.

Any takers?

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Comments

[Hilary]

Khao San
Oy! I am on Thanon Khao San just now. This is my 3rd time in Bangkok, 1st time on Khao San. I was speaking Thai with the cab driver, and he asked me "um..why do you want to come here again? It is full of hippies!" The hippies I don't mind. It's the touts, overpriced food, and nasty fake purple dreadlocks that I'm not so down with. So much so that I'm hiding out in an internet cafe until my train leaves for the islands tonight. Not sure if my last comment posted or not. Just so you know, I'm Hilary, I'm technologically impaired, and I'm a friend of Marcial's. He told me to check out your blog. Chok dee na (good luck!) Hilary

[vagabondvan]

hilary
thanks for the comments..what are u doing in thailand? what's your email?