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Published: March 10th 2015
I checked that I hadn’t left anything, stuffed my dirty underwear in my bag, grabbed the flashlight the sister lent me last night, threw away my cups of water, locked the door, and left the key in the door the way I had found it. I went to drop off the linens at the housekeeper’s room, room 14, but she wasn’t there. There was a bench outside the door so I just sat the sheet, blanket, and pillowcase there, and carried the clothes and towel with me to the bookstore.
“Sawadeekha,” I said to the sister behind the counter when I got to the bookstore. Gersha was in there looking at some of the English books that I hadn’t seen at all the day before.
I held up my dirty laundry and the sister got up and grabbed a plastic bag for me to put my clothes in. I put my clothes in the bag. She went to the door and looked out, looking for something or someone. She came back in alone and I held the bag of clothes out to her. “Teenai?” I asked. Where do I put these?
She grabbed the back, and then I
held the flashlight out to her. She gestured to me questioningly. “No, it’s yours.” I said, and handed to her again.
“Oh!” She said and took the flashlight.
“Do you know if there is a bus to Salaya from here?”
“Oh, I, no, English.” I thought not. There were three shorter sisters who all looked similar to me. One of them spoke English pretty well, another one spoke only a little bit, and this sister spoke hardly any.
“Uh, rotme, Sayala?” I asked.
“Ah rotme! Rotme. Dueng…” She stood next to me and pointed in front of her. Dueng means walk. So walk along the road. And then she said some things in Thai and pointed her hand in an ark.
“Cross a bridge?” I asked. She didn’t know what I said and made the motion again. I think I understood. In order to take a bus back, I would have to cross the street so that I would be facing the right direction, back towards Salaya. I was pretty sure she meant to cross a bridge. “Okay.” I confirmed.
“Rotme, pai Mahidon Salaya?” I asked. Is there a bus to Mahidol? She
nodded and then looked confused again. She walked out for a minute, and Gersha came up to me.
“Are you going to take a taxi back?” Gersha asked me.
“I’m going to see if they know which bus I can take back to Salaya.”
“To where?”
“To Salaya? I’m staying by Mahidon, Salaya. It’s just outside of Bangkok.”
“Oh! So you’re not staying in Bangkok?”
“No, I’m staying in Salaya, its about thirty minutes outside of Bangkok.”
“And it is close to here?”
“Yeah it’s on the way here from Bangkok.”
“So are you staying at a dorm?”
“Yeah, on campus.” Close enough. Didn’t want to have to explain that too.
The sister came back with another woman. Not a monk because she was in a t-shirt and jeans, but she spoke English.
“Is there a bus to Mahidon, Salaya?” I asked the woman.
“To Mahidon Salaya. You take two bus.”
“Oh, I have to take two buses?”
“Yes… No. You walk and cross bridge, and then take bus to Mahidon, Salaya.”
This was getting ridiculous so I gave up on the bus thing.
Green building with rooms!
My room was on the first floor all the way over to the left. Last door on the left“Maybe I can just take a taxi?”
“Ah, taxi! Taxi, we have to call taxi. Come with me.”
And Gersha and I followed her out of the bookstore, and over to the library where the meeting was being held. The woman poked her head in the door and said something in Thai.
“Why did you decide to take taxi?” Gersha asked me.
“It seemed like I would have to take two buses to get back to Salaya. Like to change buses, and it just seemed complicated. I thought a taxi would be simpler.”
“How much is taxi?” She asked me.
“It was about 250 baht to come here.”
“Okay. I took bus here from Southern station. It was about 180 baht from my hotel to the bus station. Do you know how far Southern station is from Salaya?”
“Um… it usually costs about 100, maybe 150 baht to get there.”
“Okay. So to get to Bangkok from here would maybe be about 400, 450 baht?”
“Yeah, something like that.” I suck at computation. That was close enough I guess.
The sister who had Gersha and I do the
Dotcom still in her chair
I think I only saw her off it twice the whole time i was there lol rituals to the spirit house and the Venerable Grandmother last night came out from the library.
“Usually I have to call the taxi a day in advance.” She said as she put her shoes on and started to walk over to the bookstore.
“I didn’t mean to interrupt the meeting,” I said sort of ashamed. I felt like I had already placed enough of a burden on these kind sisters.
“Oh it’s not a problem,” she said waving her hand. The way she said it, it really didn’t seem like a big deal at all. I felt better.
“Where do you need to go?” She asked.
“Mahidon, Salaya.”
When we got into the bookstore, she went to walk around to the desk, but stopped and turned to us. She spoke to Gersha, “At 10:30, the Venerable Bhikkuni will give a ceremony. You can wait for taxi until after that?” Gersha looked flustered.
“No, she’s not leaving, just me. I need to get back.”
“Oh. Well usually we have to call taxi one day in advance.” She went to sit behind the desk. “But I can try.” She sat down and didn’t look
hopeful. Maybe she would be able to explain better what to do about changing buses.
“What about taking a bus back?” I asked her.
“Oh! Bus is easy!”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes, you just walk down the road here. Cross the intersection and take the bridge across. The bus station is in front of the high school there and you just take a bus to Mahidon, Salaya.”
“Do you know which bus? Which bus number?”
“Oh, just any bus. You just ask Mahidon, Salaya, and they will stop there for you.”
“Just any bus?”
“Yeah, they should all run that way.”
“Oh! Okay! Well I’ll do that then! Thank you so much!”
I made to leave.
“I think I will come with you.” Gersha said to me. “I don’t have anything to do from now until 10:30, right?”
“Oh. Well, I don’t know if you will be back in time.”
“You don’t think?”
“Well, I don’t know how long it will take for the bus to get to Salaya, and then you would have to find your way back.” I didn’t think she understood how far away
Looking towards the front
From the side of the green building looking down the driveway to the highway. Building in the distance on the right is the bookstore/dining hall Salaya was.
“No, no!” She laughed. “Not Salaya, just to bus station.”
“OH!” I face-palmed and started laughing hard. Wow. I was smart. “I thought you wanted to come all the way to Salaya with me. Wow. I’m sorry!” I continued laughing and put my shoes on.
“No! I wondered why you looked so confused when I said I would come with you!”
“Yeah. Sorry! I totally get that now!”
“Yes. I would like to know where is this bus station also.”
“Of course! Sure! Yeah. Come with me!”
Once we left through the main gate, the sound of the highway was deafening.
“It is very loud!” Gersha shouted to me.
“Yeah! Its crazy!” I yelled back. We walked in silence the rest of the time. It was so hot, and sunny, and noisy, I basically kept my head down the whole time and didn’t notice much of my surroundings, but I thought I saw the bridge off in the distance.
We walked until we came to an intersection and stood at the edge of the sidewalk for a few minutes waiting for traffic to clear. Traffic was moving very
slowly because of the merging, so Gersha decided we should just start inching our way out and wait for cars to stop for us. Good plan. It worked, and we crossed right away.
When we got to the other side of the intersection, Gersha started walking down the intersecting road, totally in the wrong direction.
“This way!” I called to her and kept walking straight down the sidewalk towards the bridge.
“Oh, I didn’t know.” She said. I guess she hadn’t seen the bridge just beyond the intersection.
We kept walking, reached the bridge, climbed the stairs, crossed the street and went down the other side. I saw the bus stop just ahead. But Gersha stopped again. There were some motor-taxi guys waiting at their own little covered area that I think she confused with the bus stop. They called to her in Thai and she went over to them questioningly. I knew that’s not what we wanted so I kept walking and figured she would follow me once she realized they were not what we were looking for. She did. We reached the bus stop together and she asked me what they were selling tickets
for.
“I, they... I don’t actually know.” I had thought they were motor-taxi guys, I didn’t know why they would be selling tickets, honestly. “So now we just wait for a bus!”
“Any bus right?”
“Yeah she said any of the buses that come by will take me to Salaya.”
As I said that a big blue bus came into sight and I walked out to the edge of the sidewalk and put out my hand. The bus turned on its flashers and slowed down.
“This is your bus?” Gersha asked me.
“I guess so!”
The bus pulled up and as someone was getting off, I looked at the ticket-taker standing in the doorway.
“Mahidon, Salaya?” I asked. She nodded.
I started to walk on to the bus.
“Bye!” I said to Gersha.
It was a quick good bye all around. Quick to leave the monastery, and quick to say goodbye to Gersha. She was a good friend, and a great companion while I was at the monastery. I was so happy she was there. She made the time so much better. I can’t imagine having to spend all
Beautiful blue and gold buddha
I think i described it in the blog as a gold buddha in blue drapings - sorry. its the opposite! lol that time alone. I sat in the first seat on the bus, it rumbled off and I realized that Gersha would now be spending her next two days there by herself. At least she knew how things were done now, and she was able to spend her first day bounding thoughts and questions and ideas off of me. Now she would know what to expect for the rest of her time spent there, and I wished her the best.
As I sat on the bus, I was so grateful for air con. I sat there thinking for a while, thinking about the experience I had just had, about the paper I had to write, and about finally being able to take a real shower, and how I was going to blast the AC when I got back to my room. I wondered how much time I would have until Great picked me up to go watch our first Muay Thai fight. I thought it was interesting how I would be leaving a place of intense peace and quiet, to go watch something with the complete opposite kind of intensity. The ticket taker finally gave me two 20baht tickets and
informed me it was 40 baht. I took out two 20’s and handed them to her and put the tickets in my bag.
I wasn’t sure what I had gained from being there. I certainly learned that I couldn’t be a monk. And the thought of going to Nan province all by myself, and staying for a week in the mountains, as I had been planning to do, was now the last thing I wanted. I thought that maybe I would stay in Bangkok. There at least I had friends, and I knew that there would be English speaking people, and that I could go to bars or coffee shops and meet new and interesting people. I had wanted to go to Nan to get an introspective experience. I was so ready to take on a meditation retreat in the mountains, I totally thought I could do it. And now I realize that I could hardly handle one day at a monastery where meditation wasn’t even the main focus. I should stay in Bangkok.
The driver reached around and patted the wall that separated him from the rest of the bus..... What?
“Mahidon, Salaya.” Said the ticket
taker as she pointed out the window on my left.
“Oh! Chai kha!” I confirmed. He kept driving a little ways, and then stopped just past the entrance. I thanked them and hopped off the bus.
I was pretty sure I was on the back-side of campus. The side where the Bundit shuttle brought us in. Across the street was the hospital and I was pretty sure the hospital was on that side too, so I knew where I was. I couldn’t take the Bundit shuttle back to Bundit House though because it doesn’t run on Sunday’s. I couldn’t take a taxi from the road I was on… well, I could, but it would have to drive all the way around campus, if the driver wasn’t familiar and didn’t know he could just drive through campus. I could walk on campus and get one of the taxi’s that drove around in there picking up students, but that would cost more money, and I’m always in favor of saving money. So I decided to just walk back. I had never walked this way before, but I figured it would be about maybe a 20 or 30-minute walk. The drive
wasn’t usually that long from Bundit House to the entrance I stood by. So I started walking.
I was just as confident in knowing where I was, as I was unconfident knowing where I was. Some things I passed, I for sure knew I was headed in the right direction, but then there were something things I passed that I didn’t recognize at all. I kept telling myself that I don’t usually pay that much attention to my surroundings when I’m on the shuttle, so just because I didn’t recognize something didn’t mean I wasn’t headed the right way. Finally, I saw the landmark I was looking for; the Chinese temples that I always passed on the way to campus on the Budnit shuttle. I turned down that street and breathed a sigh of relief, definitely knew where I was now. I was so hot and sweaty, so tired and sore. I totally had worn the wrong flip flops to the temple, it was the pair that always rubbed between my toes if I wore them too long, and with all the walking I had done in the morning with the alms route, I had huge blisters on both
my feet. I was pretty sure one of them had popped by the time I turned down my familiar street, but I knew I was getting close. Maybe 15 more minutes! I told myself.
I walked past the construction that was so familiar to me. I got past all the evil speed bumps that made you pop out of your seat in the back of the shuttle if the driver didn’t go slow enough. So close now.
Just then a mail carrier on a motorbike pulled up next to me. He pointed ahead of himself, said some things in Thai and then patted the seat behind him.
“Yes! Thank you!” And I hopped on the back of his motorbike. What would have taken me almost ten more agonizing minutes to walk, only took about 30 seconds on the back of his motorbike. He slowed once we reached the Bundit group area and waved his hand in that general direction.
“Chai. Jott Teenee kha!” I said and he stopped just past Bundit House. “Khapkhunkha!” I said multiple times as I got off and I gave him a quick wai. He nodded and drove off.
Before I wend back to my room, I stopped by 7/11 and bought ice cream and shampoo.
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