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“"I feel fishy, wet and squishy"” |
My first impression of Thailand (on the airplane walkway), it's freakin hot here! Sure, I'd gotten used to 40 Celcius days, but not 40 Celcius days with every air molecule sponging with steam. My second impression (on the train from the airport to the city), I miss India! Thailand was great, quite great, too orderly and clean and flashy, and great. India, as you may have seen from my hyperintellectualized musings, had a completely unique vibe. Thailand has a very western vibe, but with its own Asian flair, which, now that Ive been here for a little while, Ive come to really appreciate.
Now I'm used to the fact that there are curbs and shopping malls and 7-11s! And garbage cans and computerized subway ticket machines. And mattresses and gatorade and dentists.
Yes, it was a reverse culture shock. I was still tuned into registering every Indian detail, and this modern place was a vaccuum of new detail. So my mind started to register all the little details that went along with being in a developed place, instead of just accepting that I was "back".
Bangkok is not only developed, it is hyperorderly! The traffic lights count down the seconds until your left turn, the subways are navigable in any language. The malls are the ritziest Ive ever seen. And better yet, there really was no choking pollution or crazy traffic. And, unlike Singapore or Hong Kong, the prices were still cheap. $1 for some pad thai, $5 for a hotel room (split betw 2 people it gets even cheaper!).
So we set off to find the charm in Bangkok. At first we amused ourselves with Hello Kitty toilet paper (that kitty's on everything), dried cuttlefish at the 7-11, and Karaoke channels on TV. And of course, botched English tshirts. I'm still kicking myself over not buying "I feel fishy, wet and squishy"
The Thais love their food. There are food stalls lining every street, with all kinds of quick eats. Many specialize in either noodles or rice or fried things. Another favorite is iced coffee with condensed milk. Condensed milk, coconut, and fish are staples.
We toured around the most famous temple in Bangkok, with a statue of Buddha made out of jade. The type? sect? of Buddhism is different here, so the temple architecture, colors, and statues are very different than the ones we saw in Northern India.
We also discovered that Thais are very into physical fitness. In the large city park, in addition to large 3 foot long lizards that scurry around the streams, we saw an outdoor weightlifting park, and large scale outdoor aerobics classes. I tried to join in but I was laughing too hard at the Thai versions of US pop and country songs. Nearby was the famous Patpong district, where of course we had to catch a show.
The main buzz in Thailand right now are the scandals involving their prime minister. Many of the people want him to resign. In Bangkok, we checked out a rally against the prime minister. It was impressive how many thousands of people were there, but also how orderly and peaceful the whole thing was, with tv cameras on booms above the whole thing, state of the art sound systems, and Thai versions of folk protest songs on cue on a large stage with theatre lighting.
So now we're off to see more of Thailand on bicycle. Stocking up on gatorade and cuttlefish sticks (soy sauce BBQ flavor) and then leaving Friday.
previous travel blog entry
mack243 says:
Am planning a trip to tailand. My daughter lives and teaches there, so your experience was most informative. I like the fitness & cultural aspects