Del Meets Thailand

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(My sincerest apologies for posting this so late... I've been preoccupied...)

Those of you who read our blogs often can probably defer that these are not meant to be travel resources—they should definitely not be looked upon to substitute anyone’s Lonely Planet. They are meant to be stories and updates for our friends and family back home. They are also intended to be somewhat of a diary for Brian and me to look back on in our future. This is why we tend to ramble and write about tedious bits of conversations and observations because we hope they will help us recapture every feeling, thought and sense of our lives abroad in hopes of creating more lucid memories for our future selves. So the next two blogs are not so much a travel blog of Thailand but a dedication to my family and my fond memories of when they met Thailand.

My Dad touched down in Thailand while Brian and I were spending our last night in Cambodia. When I first met my father on a Sunday night in Bangkok, he became my tour guide. In one jet lagged day he had already broken through the tourist boundaries and was telling me all about the local Thai scenes. He knew where all the Thai music was at and where to find the best deal on Singha draft pitchers.

Though I always recommend ample amount of time in a country or city, I have also agreed that Bangkok is doable in two full days. One day in the old city to see the palace, Emerald Buddha, Reclining Buddha, the river etc; then devote the second day to downtown Bangkok: Silom, Siam Square, Lumphini Park, Sky Tram and a Muay Thai fight. On my Dad’s first day I had planned for an action packed, back breaking day on foot through Bangkok’s oldest and finest tourist attractions. First we set out on the water taxi to see the Grand Palace and Emerald Buddha. We walked from the pier to the Grand Palace, my dad in step with his headphones on. His loud headphones, his loud rock and roll blues music that caused him to yell when asking questions… I don’t know if it was the majestic sights or my empty threat that he might be jailed for disrespecting the palace that made him finally retire his loud rock and roll, blues music headphones, nonetheless, thankful I was. We roamed the palace in the typical awe of the stupendously ornate grounds, the whole time I was trying to recollect everything I remembered from my own tour guide 7 months before to act as a tour guide for my dad.

The Grand Palace is fascinating and fabulous but the hordes of tourists are not and they, plus the jet lag lack of sleep, had exhausted my father. There is a time when the most seasoned traveler decides that the sights of a city’s daily life are far more fascinating than its calculated attempts at tourism. Though my dad may not call himself a seasoned world traveler he is enlightened to this idea and was happy to be whisked away from the crowds back into the real streets of Bangkok. After a good nap, we defied the tourist boundaries again by taking a very touristy long boat cruise through the canals of the Chaophraya—wait for it—in a monsoon!

We finished off the night with a stroll through China Town and a dinner that the both of us will never forget. Note to the audience, never push your hygienically O.C.D. parents into eating at a garage where they are cooking shellfish over a garbage can in the ally… that was just a silly idea. The next morning we took the water taxi again to the Oriental Hotel and made our way up Silom road to Lumphini Park where we admired the city landscape from it’s own largest patch of green—and then took a nap. Later hopped on the Sky Train and headed for the Paragon mall. If you ever need to be reassured that Asia is on top of the game when it comes to high class modernism, go visit a mall like Paragon. With an Ocean Aquarium on the first floor, every top designer and model car that even James Bond would envy spread throughout the other umpteenth floors, and a 200 meter waterfall on the top, this mall is all class and innovation all the way. My personal favorite is the elaborate food court that even has a new age version of the street food found in Thailand’s more common areas.

It was nearing our time to say goodbye to Bangkok, we had one final meal at the charming café that served ridiculously cheap 100 Baht pitchers of Singha Draft. We said goodbye to our favorite waitress—the one that looked like a Siamese Cat. And then we were off for Chiang Mai!

Upon arrival in Chiang Mai, I was sure that my Dad was conjuring up the sad assumption that Chiang Mai would have nothing on her big sister, Bangkok. It can look like a sleepy town in the middle of the night and even seem quite small in your first few days but once you start to feel your way around you realize there isn’t enough time in the world to give every block your full attention. Somehow I think my Dad almost managed though.

We started off in Chiang Mai with the basic, get your bearings tuk-tuk tour. We saw shopping, the moat, temples, parks and I even bought our apartment its long awaited first picture of the King playing the trumpet. That evening we had dinner at the Tara Bar, a local hip Thai restaurant and jazz club. Thailand’s musicians mastering their beloved songs of my Dad’s past-to-present continued to amuse him. Even more amusing was having this posh dinner experience for around $40USD total.

The next day Brian had a day off work so we took a motorbike tour of my favorite road in Thailand, the Chiang Mai/Lamphun road. A road lined with beautiful tall trees designated by the King as sacred and marked as such by each possessing the orange cloth of the monks tied around their trunks. As we rode Brian and I got a flat tire. The trip, to many, would have been ruined by this unexpected inconvenience but this is why I love my Dad: one man’s inconvenience is another man’s novelty experience. As my Dad put it, “this is great, if you hadn’t gotten a flat tire we wouldn’t be sitting here now at a little shop on the side of the road watching how they fix it.” Yes, it was another real experience unmasked by tourism and therefore one to be treasured. With a new tire we continued on to the truly sleepy town of Lamphun where we had a bite to eat and a quick marvel in its small city beauty.

Each day and night we continued on with our midmorning breakfasts, small tours or strolls through the inside of the moat followed by an afternoon siesta and a nighttime full of music and beer (to be fair, I was the nightly beer connoisseur). I think we were able to fill every night with local live music and even a Sunday morning at my favorite blue grass spot, Lucky Foo’s. We went to the North Gate Jazz club, Good View, Rasta road’s Roots, Rock, Reggae (I believe this one to be my Dad’s personal favorite and where he, against my wishes, bought me a silver bracelet from a persistent hill tribe vendor—turns out I wear it everyday along with the bracelets I bought to free myself from some other persistent vendors in Siam Reap) and then Guitarman was our last stop on the music road.

My favorite days included strolling through a Thai market inside the moat while my Dad took pictures of the bizarre and seemingly inedible to show our dearly missed Kit and Jenny back home. A day at Wat Umong, the forest temple where we stumbled upon a grey kitten seeking our pets in the middle of a forest of wild animals and meditating monks. A trip up to the infamous Suthep Temple on a mountain overlooking the city where my Dad again proved to be more of a true Buddhist disciple than any of the other visitors by caring more for the elephant on the roadside than for the temple and it’s lavish attempt at a faith whose scriptures disapprove of such things.

Lumphun was where I first dreamed of my father in Thailand. First driving down that road and basking in the beauty of its great trees, I thought of my dad and how much he would love such a road trip. I also thought about how he would enjoy tiptoeing around a store so not to wake the clerk sleeping on a mattress behind the register or enjoy a cup of coffee or cold beer at any of the many expat cafés where you can mingle and hear about others’ stories of their lives abroad. Suffice it to say, I think he did enjoy moments like those and moments of his own. Thailand misses him and so do I but perhaps we’ll get the whole gang out to see our next home abroad.

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Photos

Grand Palace
First of many photo shoots in Thailand.

He'll take it!
Dad's new downtown apartment in Bangkok.

A one hour tour...
turns out to be even better in a monsoon when you have to hide out under a bridge with the local Thai children seeking refuge during their afternoon swim.

along the tour
Buddhas, Buddhas, Buddhas everywhere!

Bangkok Soi
We should have tried the fried chicken.

Lumphini Park
Bangkok's Central Park.

I swear this wasn't staged
Just another voyeuristic glimpse of our street journeys in Bangkok.

2 naps down, at least 15 more to go
He fits right in. Notice the Thai guy sacked out behind him?

Uh-oo, he's got a motorbike
Chiangmai-Lamphun road.

Best stir fried seafood
Kor eek nueng, kah.

Tara Bar
First and last evening in Chiang Mai.