I know you all want to here more about China. But
there’s just more to tell about
Bangkok. I’m sorry! I promise there
will be plenty of posts about China. Just don’t hit me! For the
time being I am still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I have to
actually teach my students how to improve their English. This is quite
difficult for me to do because it is very apparent that I don’t know the first
thing about teaching. I’m and engineer for goodness sake! I should
be dealing with calculus and physics, not with getting people to talk back to
me in my native language.
Anyway, there will be plenty more of that later. I
will be here for a while, so there will be time, I swear. Now, back to
Bangkok!
Where I left off, we had been touring Chatuchak, a market
simply mammoth in proportions. You could find almost anything imaginable
for sale there. From clothes, to furniture, to trinkets, to weapons, to
animals (see part 1), all the way to the really bizarre and totally repulsive:
A quick snack anyone? Be thankful there is no such thing as
smell-o-vision.
After we finished with the market, we decided to call it a
day. It was getting late in the day and we were all exhausted from
sight-seeing. That night we went to supposedly the best night club in
Bangkok. To say the least, I was not impressed. At the beginning of
the night the place was filled with middle-aged men and a smattering of young
girls. There was
an odd smell in the place due to so many people being crammed into a small
space and poor ventilation. If you have been to pretty much any night
club in
New York City, you probably know what I’m talking about. The
entire night there was very loud and very terrible house/techno music being
played. It was so loud that I nearly lost my voice trying to talk to my
friends, who were standing right next to me.
I’ll take a dive bar with not many people and good music at
a reasonable level over a night club any day.
The next day we had a late start due to (ahem) reasons
completely and utterly unrelated to the fact that we were out late drinking the
night before. Seriously, nothing to do with it. Nothing at all.
My friend Mike (whom I had been travelling with, if you
hadn’t caught that already) had his two cousins visiting with him while he was
in Bangkok. They were leaving that afternoon, so we head over to the Conrad
Hilton where Mike’s mom was staying for a bit of a swim and
goodbyes. After a while I decided to head off on my own to see some more
sites before leaving myself the next day.
Thankfully I managed to make it over to the
Temple
of the Dawn, which is just incredible. At somewhere between 66 and 86
meters tall, it was quite a strain just to get up to the highest level (about
2/3 of the way up). I was definitely sucking wind pretty hard after
climbing up the incredibly steep steps. But once up there, the views are
just awesome. It is definitely one of those really special places that
you just need to go to and experience for yourself. If you ever have the
opportunity and good fortune to go to Bangkok, I highly recommend this temple.
Simply awesome.
After the Temple of the Dawn, I met up with a friend at the
Grand Palace where we proceeded to wander around. Anyone you met that was trying to help you translate things for money was of no use, and we might have been been getting
Arabic translation services. You feel like you need After a hilarious bout
of haggling with a taxi driver (of which there are many), we took a quick ride
down to the Temple
of the Reclining Buddha to see one of the largest single Buddha images
in the world. Just like everything else I had seen in Bangkok, it was
just awesome. The Buddha is barely contained within the temple, it is
nearly impossible to get it all in one picture from inside the building.
It only works to add to the immense size and grandeur of the gold-plated
masterpiece.
From there we proceeded to wander around the temple and the
surrounding area. You know how there are certain places in the world
where the sunrises and sunsets are just simply incredible? Like in the
desert, seeing the sunset is such a beautiful sight that it is moving.
Well let me tell you, Thailand is one of those places where the sunsets are
like that. All of the temples and statues and edifices are so beautifully
decorated and it all glows in the light of the setting sun.
A reflection of the sunset outside the Temple of the
Reclining Buddha
That night Mike and I walked through the park to find the
statue of one of the Kings of Thailand (I can’t remember which one at the
moment). The park was very big and right near the hotel where we were
staying, so I thought it would be a fun little adventure. Adventure time,
hooray! Anyway, on the way through the park, we discovered a concert
where an orchestra was playing music selections from The King and I.
There was a huge crowd sitting on the grass around the stage, so we decided to
linger and watch the show. It was very relaxing and enjoyable.
After the past four days of the hustle and bustle of Bangkok, it was really
nice to just sit on the grass and enjoy the sounds and the scenery.
After we found the statue, we went to dinner. The I
left for the airport to catch my plane to come to China. And here I am!
