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Published: December 26th 2005
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Well, here we are in our next stop - Kachanaburi. We arrived here about 3pm today after a long bus ride and much reflection. First thing this morning, we met our group at 9am and headed off to the river where a long tailed boat was waiting to take us to Wat Pho before we began our journey to Kachanaburi. Yeah, I was there yesterday, but mainly for the massage 😊
Our guide, Prik, took us through the many buildings and monuments that made up the Wat and gave us insight into the history of Thailand and the influence of Buddhism on the Thai culture. We in the U.S. really have no relative knowledge as to what depth history can have and how it shapes a peoples' ideals, outlook on life, and expectations of appropriate behaviors. Our country is too young. What I learned today is that I personally lack a sense of community and/or belonging. The U.S. is such an individualist nation, that group thought which leads to the group goals that unify a nation really don't exist from my point of view. Although I take pride in the fact that I am a strong, open-minded individual, I also
feel like I lack the collective security that is found in many other cultures. You should see the way people enjoy life here (DISCLAIMER: and this is based on MY observations, some of you may disagree based on your own experiences), and they enjoy it together based not on what they have or don't have or what they have accomplished. It is pure love of community and their fellow human being, which, as I understand is the essence of Buddist belief.
For example, today is the anniversary of the tsunami. It is very interesting to see things from the insider's point of view. I read the national newspaper today (yes, it is in English) and 75% of it was devoted to the tsunami anniversary. Each and every article was about the amazing things people have done to survive this disaster, both those from Thailand and those from other countries, namely the ambassadors to Thailand from Sweden and Australia (the U.S was not mentioned). Even positive stories from people who lost eveything, even their families. Not one article was negative. If you compare these articles to those we read and see on the news about hurricane Katrina, all we hear
is the negative. The government took too long, the government is racist, etc. What about the amazing stories of those people who are sacrificing their lives to make sure a few others get them back? Sure there are a few uplifting stories, but most of what we hear is negative. Reading the tsunami articles hit me very hard today. There were no stories trying to raise sympathy or emphasize the negatives that stir the pot even more than it is already. All the stories looked toward the future and praised all those who were affected by the tsunami. We could learn a lot by observing such communal behaviors.
Another thing that touched me today is relative perspectives on the standard of living here vs. in the U.S. Other people on my tour observed similar things and we all wonder the same thing -- "what is the general sense of the definition of prosperity here in Thailand compared to at home?". The reason we discussed this today comes from the boat ride we had from Bangkok to where we caught our bus to Kachanaburi. Everything we have seen so far has seemed VERY poor in our standards, but yet, we
saw very few areas where there were buildings that resembled something that may have required more money to build. Everything is so run down and barely standing, especially along the river. So, this is where we had the following thoughts:
Most ideals are relative to where you live and how you grew up. So, in the U.S. we value big houses, expensive cars, and other material items as signs of prosperity and status. Here in Thailand, what are the standards they value? Although there may be corners of Bangkok that we haven't seen that may be very rich according to our standards, everything we have seen the past couple days is very rudimentary. It seems like a normal way of life here. For example, we traveled at least an hour on the river, every single house had a foundation that was either about to fall into the water or already had. You could see inside these structures and they were crowded and messy. But what if this is normal for them? What if success and prosperity are valued in areas other than material items? Since everyone here seems so happy and alive, who are we t judge what is poor and and run down and sad? This is something I would really like to explore further while I am here, hopefully I will have the chance.
OK, enough philosophizing - once we got into Kanchanaburi, we were placed in rickshaws and taken to our next guesthouse. Once there, we had free time to explore a bit. A group of us wandered through an old WWII cemetary and then on to a very traditional Thai market. We decided to randomly buy different food items that were cooked on the street. First, we tried something that we though at first was pig balls, but we eventually found out that they were Thai pork sausages (they were shaped like balls though!). Then we started trying desserts, a taco-shaped item that tasted like it had almond cookie for the shell, marshmallow and fried coconut filling, and then some sticky rice with a very sweet, green sauce - yum! No one here seems to speak English, and my Thai phrase book really didn't help much when asking what ingredients were, so we just bought and ate! No weird things yet, such as rats, worms, or bugs, but we have been told that there will be opportunities to try them! At this point, I think I am brave enough to try at least one of these, just to say I did anyway. We'll see if that actually happens when I get to that point.
Tomorrow, we get to go to the Bridge Over the River Kwai and a place with tigers we can pet, and a national park with a 7 tiered waterfall that we can swim under where the fish nibble at your toes! Off I go to my guest house to get rested for yet another adventure...
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Debbie (Mom)
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Kachanaburi
Kachanaburi!!! Isn't this the Kachanaburi that is famous for their beautiful blue sapphires?!?!?! (Hint, hint!!:) Seriously, it sounds like you are having an awesome time over there. Love the detail and the photos! Thanks for sharing your adventure...makes us wish we were there too!