on the clock

I’m sitting in an internet cafe in Khao San, the backpacker district. I am listening to three British guys complain about something and two Japanese people search for something. My photos are uploading at an unbelievably slow rate.

I arrived in Bangkok and managed to get to the backpacker district with only one minor bus mishap, as was explained to me by the kind bus woman, “(pointing to the #59 blue bus sign) Khao San,” “(pointing to the #59 red bus sign) No Khao San.” The guesthouse I was hoping would be empty was full, so I wandered around until I found a decently priced empty one. It’s not luxurious, but I’m not spending any time in it other than sleeping.

Khao San is conveniently located within walking distance of most of the places I wanted to go, namely, temples. I started off in the Buddhist amulet market and made my way through a few small temples without disturbing the nuns and monks too much. Buddhism is a much more serious endeavor in Thailand than in Japan, although conversely, I feel like Thai temples do not have that “sacred” feeling that I get in Japanese ones. Perhaps this is because there is so much everyday activity going on - mopping, eating, repainting, chatting, singing. While Japanese temples leave me with the feeling that they are doing their best to preserve the old, Thai temples are definitely forging into the future. I did not visit a temple today that did not have some sort of construction going on.

Speaking of temples, after my forage through the unmapped neighborhoods, I decided to head over to the most visited Grand Palace and Wat Phae Kreaw. On my way to cross the street, however, I was stopped by a friendly tuk-tuk driver who reminded me that the temple is closed at lunch time. He was joined in convincing me to take his mini tour of the area by an equally friendly government official from the Grand Palace.

And that is how I ended up riding around the city in a three wheeled motorcycle with a roof for three hours. Yes, he did take me to famous places (the Golden Mount, Wat Sraket, some other big Wat) but we also had to do a little collaborative money making/saving by stopping off at designated jewelers, suit makers, and oriental rug sellers. I didn’t mind, and I thought it was quite funny when he told me what I was supposed to tell the shopkeepers so that he could get a good comission for bringing me there. In return, my fare was minescule.

Tuk-tuk man dropped me back off at the Grand Palace and I did my sightseeing. There are two particularly impressive things about this area 1) The buildings are actually quite impressive. Everything is decorated like crazy, and I don’t mean the inside of the buildings. Everything is overlayed in gold or mosaic-ed with ceramics, sparkling glass, or jewels. 2) The Emerald Buddha lives in one of the subtemples. While very small and difficult to see, he still has a great number of followers who come to pray. And the sound of them chanting sutras together is a lovely thing.

I started getting blisters at this point, so I thought I’d take it easy. I grabbed myself a coconut with a straw in it and got on a little boat to cross the river. On the other side was Wat Arun, the Temple of the Dawn, known for being completely covered in Chinese ceramics. No, don’t be thinking of these blue and white plates, although there were a few of them. All of the ceramics had been obtained when Chinese ships needed to lose their ballasts years ago. I sat in the shade of one of the spires and wrote some postcards. The river breeze was wonderful compared to the rest of stuffy Bangkok.

Having recovered, I crossed back over the river again with a bunch of noisy Japanese and headed for Wat Pho, famous for two things: Thai massage school, and the longest/largest reclining Buddha in Thailand. I forget the exact dimensions, but it was big. I think my head was smaller than its toe. Lined up along the wall behind the Buddha were a series of small black pots. For a small donation you recieved a small cup of coins which you *tink*ed into the pots as you returned along the backside of the Buddha. Doing so ensures your good luck. Of course, I did so.

And now we reach the point where I have been in Bangkok for fourteen hours and I have taken 75 photographs. This could lead to problems for the rest of the week unless I dump some of them, but I have already passed my hour mark and I’m antsy to go down the street where they are supposedly selling the pants that I want eight pairs of, so I will leave you now to ponder this:

If one man will charge you 20 bhat and the other will charge you 30, are you a bad person for wanting to save 4 cents?