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Published: November 14th 2007
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Wow. I enjoyed Thailand very much. I knew ahead of time that Bangkok was an international city, but I had no idea how international that was. The city was so modern, influenced by globalization and Westernization, that you could really be in any country, which of course had its advantages and disadvantages. Bangkok is the place to visit if you're interested in markets. On the first and last day we visited the Chatuchak market which is rumored to be 35 square km. They had everything, from used sneakers to lizards to wooden Buddha statues. I really liked how a lot of the stalls were rather small and contained homemade jewlery or clothes sold personally by the designer. Craft fairs aside, not quite as common in N.D. A couple nights we hung out on Koh San road, where you could find the other backpackers in Bangkok getting tattoos, piercings, or dreads in the middle of the street to help illustrate for friends back home the wicked time they had in Thailand.
It would have been impossible to miss out on cultural tourism in Bangkok. The second day I visited the National Museum which gave a historical background of the country and
A Lotus Vase
These flowers were used as an offering at each of the Buddhist sites we visited, along with incense and candles. monarchy. Right now Rama IX (their king) is ruling and the Thai citizens' solitarity with him is quite evident by the enormous posters of him on buildings and the yellow t-shirts that contained the national emblem so many Thai were wearing. Rama IX is currently 80 years old and ill in the hospital, thus there was an increased mood of patriatism in the air while I was visiting. The second day I visited the National Palace, a large complex with gorgeous buildings. Their was a famous Buddhist temple inside called the Temple of the Emerald Buddah (it's really jade). There was a strict dress code upheld on this stop on our itinerary and anybody wearing sleeveless shirts or pants above the knee were required to borrow the most unflattering clothes in the world to cover up at the front gate. Unfortunately a couple members of my group had to do this, but I was lucky and, unbeknownst to me ahead of time, wore the right outfit that day. We saw a ton of giant golden Buddah statues around town, pilgrimage sites for followers and tourists alike. I cannot express the beauty of the mosaiced buildings and temples that glimmered in
Standing Buddha
Although this statue is 40 meters tall the Reclining Buddha statue we saw the next day has it beat with a height of 46 meters. the sun among skyskrapers and plain buildings.
As far as understanding Thai culture, a person would need to try and remove themselves from the tourist culture as best as possible and get outside of the city. We did spend a couple of amazing days at an island three hours outside of Bangkok, but it was filled with 20 somethings on world tours before settling down more permanently back home. In other words, the extent of what Ko Samet provided us with was a gorgeous white sand beach with unpolluted aquamarine water outside of our $5 a night 'bungalow' and a demographic of European and North American couples living the simple life. (I hesitate to say enjoying because unlike my group, I'm sure others were less then pleased with their 10 by 10 ft. shacks containing a full-sized bed, no linens, a mosquito net and a c. 1960 fan). Not wanting to spoil us with these amenities, the community toilets and showers were conveniently located outside, a little jaunt away.
Every night in Bangkok we stayed at the same hostel that was located conveniently close to the sky train and subway stations. Breakfast was included in the cost and
served at the attached cafe/restaurant that had Italian cooks. Out of the three breakfast options we were given, by the end of the week the consensus was that the egg fried rice was the most sustaining. The rest of our meals were equally balanced between street food and cheap restaurants. Pad Thai was the cheapest option, ranging from 30-70 baht ($.90-$2.00). Snacks consisted of a small bag of pineapple off the street for 10 baht ($.30) and the Thai brand of Oreos.
My favorite part of the trip was finally having independence, from structure at least, and being able to decide upon activities. One night I suggested we go to a Thai movie. It was great because it was an awful romantic drama. During the previews there was a tribute to the king and the audience stood in respect. Pretty interesting. I also enjoyed traveling with these friends in particular because we have obviously all been through similar experiences in India and have been studying the same subjects. We talked about the blatant sex industry in Bangkok and the continually made comparisons between Bangalore and Bangkok.
And one last thing...I got a hair cut!! One night we spent
a few hours in Little Arabia in Bangkok and my roommate Mallory and I decided to bite the bullet and cut our hair. A couple nights prior I had cut a picture of my desired hair out of a magazine and thank goodness I did because my hairdresser and I did not communicate very well verbally. This could have been awful, but I am so happy with the way it turned out. I basically just let my hairdresser do her thing and at one point turned to my friends and said, "Am I getting a mullet?" This was followed by a lot of laughter, and for your information, no it did not turn out to be a mullet. It's a piecy bob with bangs. And I love it.
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