Welcome to Bangkok

Back to the trip narrative – Marilee met me at the airport after my overnight flight from Dusseldorf and we took a taxi back to her house – there’s a highway that goes almost door-to-door and while I was there, there was never a lot of traffic. I was really lucky during my time in Thailand – the protests and airport closure had caused a lot of tourists to cancel their trips, so there was not a lot of traffic and no crowds. I was also told I was lucky with the weather – it was hot, but not unbearable. I don’t know if I can ever go back to Thailand now since I was there under such ideal conditions!

We went back to her apartment (big, and comfortable, as advertised), where I showered, and we had breakfast (seven-hour time difference from Morocco – six hours from Spain – so I don’t know what meal it was) – omelettes and tropical fruits. I tried the ones I hadn’t ever had but found myself more interested in pineapple and watermelon. Then we took the Skytrain (it’s what it sounds like) and river boat


to Wat Pho, Bangkok’s largest and oldest temple complex


and site of the famous Reclining Buddha (I did find myself singing, “One Night in Bangkok” continuously). It is huge! Forty-five meters long, with a smile five meters wide. Its feet are inlaid with mother-of-pearl showing the 108 lakshanas, or auspicious signs, that distinguish the true Buddha.




Note – when entering a Buddhist temple, cover your shoulders and legs (in other words, my Peace Corps modesty wardrobe was perfect - if you don't have that they give you something to wear to cover yourself), remove your hat and shoes, and never show the bottoms of your feet to the Buddha (actually, that goes for entering a Thai home as well). We gave coin offerings at the big temple


and bought incense, candles and lotus blossoms at one of the smaller temples on the complex (Marilee is a Buddhist – I thought it couldn’t hurt) and then got one-hour Thai massages (for about $10) at the renowned Wat Pho massage school. We then walked to a neighborhood restaurant that had been written up in The New York Times – she introduced me to what she called the equivalent of the basic tagine in Morocco, chicken with green curry. Spicy! I don’t know if I got used to it quickly or if that place was particularly spicy – but I got used to it quickly. I faded pretty quickly after that but it was still a pretty full first day.



The next day we went to a local park where Marilee takes exercise walks on the weekends – we saw bunches of people doing tai chi. And then we went to the Chatuchak Weekend Market – basically, a big souk, but with permanent stands and stalls. It was huge – we didn’t get to all of it – but we saw the pet area, clothes, household goods. I wasn’t quite ready to buy, but I did get a silk blouse – you never know when you will see something again. We ate boiled chicken and rice at a food stall – the chickens are hanging up and you order what you want (we pointed) and they cut it up for you – you eat with a spoon, using the fork to shove the good towards your spoon. You don’t need a knife, since everything is cut into bite-sized pieces, and you would never use the fork to spear food and eat it – that’s not what it’s for! Even the Thais drink bottled water – nobody drinks from the tap.