Language Gap

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First of all, I barely know which day this is ... I had to look at the newspaper to actually figure out that this was Tuesday. This is the first sign that you have officially disconnected and your mind is completely in vacation mode. I had a giggle when I saw the first page of the newspaper. There it was ... a huge photo of the King making an offering of food to a monk during the ceremony of Coronation day held (well we know where ...) Wat Phra Kaew and the grounds of the Grand Palace. So I didn't get scammed ... they really were closed. I am so bringing that newspaper home with me.

So I had my first breakfast at Flava, the hotel restaurant. You had a choice of continental, american, healthy or asian ... asian breakfast??? It's soup ... well when in Thailand do as the Thai do so soup it was. The one I chose was Khao Thom which was a very thick soup of rice and your choice of chicken or pork. It was delicious. Oh and if you hadn't guessed I had the pork.



So then off I went to grab a taxi to Muang Boran. My taxi driver Udom and I had issues ... we did not understand one another and he was a salesman if I ever saw one. After deciding on a price (this bargaining is how I will die in Thailand!) we headed off on our way. Udom kept saying ... Madame chop chop chop ... yes Udom let's go fast ... you will anyways! Then he kept saying "tomolo chop chop chop" ... uh? I know of pomelo; it's like a big grapefruit and to me chop chop means go fast ... does Udom want me to eat a big grapefuit fast ... probably not. So after a few frustrated back and forths I realized that he was asking me if to-mo-rrow I want to go shop-ping ... that would make more sense. I said no, just Muang Boran but he was very insistent so I had to take out "the tone" and I think that the words Udom if you don't take me to Muang Boran I will get other driver came out of my mouth ... so off we were on the Expressway. As we approached Muang Boran, Udom kept saying kokodaye ... oh Udom, give it up I don't understand you. And he kept clapping his hands. I soon understood that he was trying to get me to go to the cro-co-di-le farm.

There is a huge traffic problem in Bangkok ... here is my little two cents worth. It might have to do with the fact that you have literally 7 lanes of traffic and everyone jockeying for position and that a traffic light will stay red of 10 minutes. I am not kidding I timed it. Well what else do you in a cab with Udom? Chit chat?

So finally we arrived to Muang Boran. This is 200 acres of land shaped like Thailand and there are reproductions of all of the major sites throughout the country laid out pretty much as close as it is geographically. So I paid my 300 baht, got my bicycle, my map and off I went.









I had four hours (Udom was waiting for me as we had bargained ... it's a bit of a remote area so it was better to do that to make sure that I could make it back into Bangkok ... essentially it cost me $ 20 to have him for half the day).



I cannot even describe this site. It was just stunning and I managed to see a huge majority of the sites although it is easily a full-day thing.

































There were large groups of school children. One group had green shirts, the other red. There was an orange group, etc. etc. The green group passed me at one point as I was taking pictures and I swear every single child said hi to me in one language or another. They found it really funny because I just stood there and said hi or waved. I asked one little boy how he was and he belted out a big "fine" and then just started giggling. One little girl had her green t-shirt with Little Miss Giggles written on it. I pointed to her shirt and she started giggling. I guess it was true.







There were also deer roaming free. I saw a few mothers and their young.







Before finishing, I went to the floating market and bought soup from this woman that literally cooked it while sitting on her barge. It cost me all of 60 cents and it was huge and delicious.

























I made it back to the hotel with Udom in tow, had a quick pit stop and headed back out. I was on a mission to find the thai crafts market, which turns out had moved but I managed to find it anyways. I had in my head that I would do a bit of souvenir shopping but first I needed to eat. I went to this food court and for a $ 1.50 had pad thai. All in all today, it cost me a whopping $ 5.00 for three meals (I had supper at what can only be called a dive on the corner of Sukhumvit Soi 15 and oh so good though).

Then souvenir shopping but again got distracted by the fact that there was a massage place. I had said that I would do a thai massage and it was only about $ 10 for an hour. How to describe the experience. I had read that it was like having yoga done to you ... true but not dramatic enough. I think the woman thought that I wanted to become a contortionist in Cirque du Soleil and felt the need to twist and turn my body in ways that it was not meant to go. She used her hands, her knees, elbows ... at one point, she was literally on all fours on me with her knees on the back of my thighs and doing a crawling motion. There was a lot of bone cracking and wincing let me tell you. It was great though and I will probably go back one more time before I go home.

I finished off the day at Benchasiri Park which is one skytrain stop away from the one close to my hotel. The mission was to find men playing sepak takraw and get some cool shots of that. I was not disappointed but it is very hard to shoot because it is very fast moving. Essentially, it is volleyball with a "wicker" ball. They have the net but it is played entirely with their feet. Very acrobatic. I may just go back and try my luck at other photos.















This park was beautiful with people just taking it easy at the end of the day ... jogging, tai chi, skateboarding, aerobics classes ... very beautiful way to end the day. Oh and at 6 pm they play the National Anthem and again the world stops ... so 8 am and 6 pm. I had this thai man right beside me and afterwards he looked at me and said "oh you know what to do? Very good"





















Haven't decided what I want to do tomorrow ... will go and check that out while sipping a glass of thai rhum.

To all of you who have written me messages and comments, please know that I have received and read all of them and thank you for being supportive and encouraging during this little journey.

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