Greetings from Bangkok! I arrived last week and have been enjoying exploring my new surroundings. I am staying in Banglampoo which is known for it's bustling markets, guesthouses (which are like hostels, but a bit nicer), and a mecca for many travelers and backpackers.
Since being here, I successfully took the bus to Chinatown, gotten to know my surrounding neighborhood, visited my first wat or temple, eaten yummy food mostly from the sidewalk "restaurants"that are on every corner, did some major shopping and have fallen in love with Thailand.
Getting around the city, it's easy and cheap to travel by tuk tuk, which is a motorcyle-like mobile with a seat for two people in the back. These little vehicles will take you anywhere you want to go, but it's wise to bargain the price with the driver first. Also, it's a bit scary and exhilerating to ride in one, as there are no doors or windows, so it's quite exciting when one squeezes between a big truck and a honking car. Also, I learned that in Bangkok painted lines in the road are really just guidelines, but no one really follows them religiously. I am so thankful that I'm not driving in this country and have completely taken back everything I've ever said about California drivers being insane. Bangkok would give any Californian a run for their money on the road.
Over the weekend, I went to the Chatuchak markets, Bangkok's largest outdoor markets with over 15,000 vendors. Being the transportation lover that I am, took the Sky Train to the markets. The Sky Train system is very efficient and was fun to ride. Per advice from another local that I met, I went to the markets early in the day and had such a great time! These are the best markets I have EVER seen with pretty much everything from housewares to amazing clothes to food to pet supplies all at ridiculously low prices. I shopped and shopped until I realized that I was dehydrated and hungry, so decided to call it a day and headed for shade and food.
This past weekend also kicked of Chinese New Year and it was wonderful to see so many people wearing red, especially children, many people celebrating the new year with shrines of incense burning and delicious food offerings and numerous celebrations of dancing lions through out the city. On Saturday, I visited the Phra Sumen park, which is right near my stomping grounds and faces the Chao Phraya River. A large group of students were having a celebration with food, juggling, break dancing and aerobics. It was so well organized! A young and not so seemingly fit aerobics instructor had a Madonna-like microphone (think Vogue) and great sound system blasting very fast techno music. He led the group of 40+ energetic followers. So after a big feast, everyone could get down and sweat it out with aerobics. Good idea!
I also visited my first Thai grocery store and found it fascinating. Clearly, most Thai don't buy their produce at grocery stores as the produce section was super small and everything was individually wrapped in saran wrap with styro-foam. The biggest part of the store had to the beauty section as there were rows and rows of shampoo, whitening face cream, soaps, and other scented products. If there were different scents available for soaps, for example, there were little samples out, so people could smell the soaps and see the colors. This went for the air freshner section also; each product has little bottles hanging from each row so people can sniff the scents before buying them. The Thai are very clean people, indeed!
Also, today I visited the Wat Skrakes, which is this massive compound that was originally built in 1782 and is still maintained due to it's historical significance. The Gold Mount is the largest part of the monument standing at 100 meters hight and around 500 meters in diameter. While I was taking some pictures and walking to the top, I met a Buddhist monk named Wanich. We ended up spending the entire afternoon together and it was such a wonderful experience. We walked to the top of the monument, walked around it 3 times (in Buddhism, I think this signifies good fortune, doing things 3 times), I prayed with him in Thai, bought a little bell to hang at the shrine, lit incense and put gold paper on a different monument inside and ultimately learned quite a bit about Thai buddhism. After the Gold Mount, we visited the Consecrated Assembly Hall with a huge gold Buddha and again said some prayers. The entire compound has massive gold Buddhas all over, and each of the buildings is covered in ornate designs with beautifully maintained grounds surrounding each area. I found a true friend in Wanich and hope our paths cross again.
All in all, I've really enjoyed the Thai people as they are kind, polite and very helpful to farangs like me. (A farang is a westerner, usually a tourist). Although many are quite surprised at what comes out of my mouth, as many expect me to speak Thai or Japanese. I have a few more days in Bangkok before heading off to my next adventure.
Hope you are all well! All my love!
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