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At exactly 18:00, I pulled myself off the mat in the lobby and headed to my bunk to crawl into my air conditioned bed. As soon as my wristband released the door lock with a beep, a gust of cool breeze reached my face. The air felt like ice after a hot burn. I was so happy to finally get to rest up from the few days of running my body down to zero.
I climbed up the ladder to my bunk and just as my head hit the pillow a foreign voice called hello from behind the drape beside my bunk. He had a strong German accent but spoke English well. His name was Toby and was traveling with his friends from home. He asked if I was really going to bed at 6 o'clock and I confirmed. I told him I have been waiting all day for the air to bumped on so I could rest. He asked where in Thailand I had just traveled from and I told him I had spent the last few days in Silom. He asked question after question and then apologized saying he knew I was trying to get rest. He was funny and made me laugh at his heavy accent and million questions. I didn't know what he looked like nor did he me, because of the blinds between us but we could make out each other's silhouette. I told him I felt like we were in the movie with Eddie Murphy, The Golden Child when they talk to that woman through the screen. He found this funny and we continued talking even though I was falling asleep. He told me he and his friends were going to Skybar and I told him that I was there the night before. He asked if I made it to the Ping Pong Show and I began laughing telling him it is something everyone should experience one time in Thailand. He laughed and agreed. We talked for a while as I grew groggy and eventually fell asleep.
At five in the morning, I heard Toby crawl into his bunk and it woke me up. I had slept for a nearly a half a day. I must have really worn myself out from all the travel thus far. He asked if I was awake and what I had done tonight. I yawned and told him that I slept the whole time. He still sounded drunk and in a surprised tone asked how that was possible. I told him I had been really tired from the time change, travel and my birthday. He said in his even now stronger with the alcohol, German accent "Julie you are the most boringest person I have ever met." I started laughing; I think this is the first time someone has ever said that to me. I agreed with him in a condescending tone, "You're right, I traveled all the way to Thailand alone and am super boring, lame really." We both started laughing and he told me that I wasn't really boring but that he couldn't believe I had flown to Thailand to wait for air conditioning to sleep for a half a day. I asked him how Skybar was and he said they didn't get in because of the dress code and they were wearing flip flops. I told him it sounded like his night sounded like the boring one. I asked if he made it to the Ping Pong Show was and he said it was awesome but very disgusting. I laughed and agreed. In his drunken slur he said, "You are very mean too. You are the most boringest person and mean person I have ever met." I asked why I was mean and he said "Because you told me every person should go to the Ping Pong Show, knowing it was awful."
He was just teasing but it was funny. Here I was talking to this person beside my bunk before he went to the bar and now when he returned eleven hours later and I still didn't even know what he looked like. He began to talk to me about the U.S. He asked many questions about where I was from and our countries differences. You could tell he was very proper because he asked what activities I enjoy and I thought for a minute and replied, "hiking." Then in a formal announcement he told me that he enjoyed running, skiing, swimming, working out at the gym, handball, reading, cooking, eating good food and listening to music. He said it very proudly and I wondered if all Germans were so formal. American guys are so predictable and would say something brief like, I like football and beer. We talked for an hour in our bunks. He asked very probing questions about being an American. He asked why I felt most Americans liked the most about living in the U.S and I grew nervous I was going to mess it up for all of us. What if I gave the wrong answer and he tells everyone America is backwards? Sorry America, I'll do my best.
I thought about it for a minute and replied, "Freedom- to do whatever you want. The opportunity to create the life you want is up to you. You can live wherever you want and be whatever you want if you are born in Ohio and you want to move across the country and live in California you can. You don't have to be born into a certain family to become something great. "Toby told me I was right. He told me that Europe is trying to adopt this as well. He said you couldn't just move around in the past but now they are trying to be more like America and allow visa's to work in anywhere in the European Union. I asked him what he thought of Americans and he said the typical all Americans are fat and watch a lot of T.V. He apologized but I laughed and said to continue. I always find it funny to hear what their perception of us is. He said that we all buy big gas guzzling cars. He said he finds it unfortunate that the majority of Americans only travel within the U.S and not to other countries. He said out of all his travels he has met mostly Californians and has visited California as well. He said that he did feel like San Francisco was the most similar to Europe out of all the states in America. I asked how so and he said that in San Francisco it appeared like the people were the most green, were more aware of their actions and how it affects the environment. He believed their lifestyle is most conducive to living healthy and promoting a safer environment. He said he feels like states in the Midwest and East Coast don't take it seriously that how we live our life does affect the grand scheme of things. It's always interesting to me to hear foreigner's perception of us because when you live in the states or your everyday world, you kind of forget about other countries not being fond of us. They watch our movies, listen to our music and we are constantly in their face. They form a lot of opinions of us naturally, and we just operate in our daily lives for the most part unaware. I feel like we don't have as many harsh opinions as they do of us. It's kind of like celebrities where they get the most heat because they're in the spotlight. Is America in the spotlight? It kind of sounds like it by all of Toby's assumptions. Either way, I don't like Germans any less. Hopefully he likes Americans a little more. Toby and I talked until around seven in the morning and then I told him I had to get in the shower because I had a big day ahead of me. I may have slept away yesterday, but today I wanted to see every inch of this district.
I jumped in the shower, threw on the dress I bought at the market yesterday and walked down to the front desk. I asked the host for directions to the currency exchange. She handed me a Xeroxed copied map that was very hard to read so I shoved it in my bag and decided that I would get lost but had the whole day to find the bank and The Grand Palace.
I walked out the door and it was the first time I had really explored on my own. I made sure to memorize a land mark to find my way back to my street so I didn't get lost on the way back. With how busy the streets were and the street names all looking the same I made a mental note of the big Orange Juice sign that hung above the vendor on the corner of my street.
Old Bangkok was very scary compared to Silom. Silom was much cleaner and had a designated street for the straw market. This district was packed with vendors lining every street and every corner. From the minute you turn on the sidewalk to the right are stores, restaurants and abandoned buildings and two feet to your right on the sidewalk are street vendors cooking chicken, pork and duck on sticks. There are tables with odd looking seafood cut up into bite sized pieces. Sauce pans with grease as women dip balls of random ingredients into the oil to fry and dump into little clear baggies for sale. All the smells combined on the crammed sidewalk after sidewalk was so overwhelming. I was beginning to feel nauseated. Mixed in with street vendor food were sunglasses, t-shirts, dresses, underwear, jewelry, fruit stands. It was just a cluster of everything under the sun, crammed on every inch of free space throughout the sidewalks for blocks and blocks. Nauseous or not, I had to get breakfast so bought some strange looking balls of fried potatoes served on a stick for ten Baht. It was surprisingly very good. After wondering through the streets, I found the currency exchange. I changed more American Dollars to Baht and decided I would venture out to The Grand Palace.
It was kind of nice to explore on my own today. I had been around people since I arrived so I was looking forward to going in and out of temples today alone. Once I reached the main road I got lost and quickly changed my mind. Who was I kidding; Bangkok is not exactly the best place to explore solo. You're constantly being harassed to buy something, take a Tuk Tuk or if you want that they "have special deal for you." I was stopped by a local man who asked if I needed help, I said no again and he was persistent. He told me that if I was going to The Grand Palace that it was closed until 3pm. Now he had my attention. He told me it was closed for the Buddhist holiday so motioned to take my map. He used his pen and circled the other tourist temples to tour in the meantime. Standing Buddha, Golden Mountain and Lucky Buddha, Happy Buddha and Black Buddha. He reminded me that since today is a holiday all the Tuk Tuks are special price of ฿20 to tour every location. I thanked him and turned away. He asked if I needed a ride and I told him I would be okay walking. Now he harassed me to take a Tuk Tuk and I grew impatient having to tell every person that was trying to hustle me. I told him no sternly again and walked away.
I looked at the impossible to read map and decided to just wing it. After a few minutes, a girl walking beside me turned and asked a question in a sweet French accent. "Excuse me, do you speak English?" I nodded and she handed me her map asking if I knew how to get to The Grand Palace. I smiled and told her it was closed until 3pm and that you have to tour the other attractions until then. I told her I was doing the same and showed her the circled temples on my map. She asked if she could tag along with me. I shook my head in disbelief because I equally wanted to have someone at this point to tour with as well. With the speeding traffic of cars, street vendors and Tuk Tuk harassment- I needed her just as bad as she needed me. I extended my hand to hers and introduced myself. Her name was Suzanna and she was from Paris.
Suzanna and I instantly hit it off and had a lot in common. She spoke very good English and we both had the same agenda today. She asked me if I spoke any Thai and I told her I only knew the basic greetings. She told me that a friend told her that Thai is a lot simpler then we think. The trick is that they don't conjugate verbs. If you can learn a few basic vocabulary words and know that to make a question, just add "Mai" at the end. To make the negative add "Mai" at the beginning. So I asked her as I practiced out loud. "So if I was asking if someone was hungry I would just look up the Thai word for Hungry and I say "Hungry Mai?" She nodded. "And "Mai Hungry" if I was saying I wasn't hungry?" She nodded again.
From there we just dove right into more and more conversations about Thailand and the culture shock we both experienced upon our arrival. We crossed the busy streets and got lost when what seemed like the nineteenth Tuk Tuk driver to ask us if he could drive us. He said today was special holiday so only ฿20 each to take us to every temple all day. This was only 63 cents to have him drive us for hours everywhere we wanted to go. Suzanna started to climb in the Tuk Tuk but I held off and asked when we pay and he replied, "I take you to each temple, wait for you to tour and drive you to the next. You do not pay until the last stop." Suzanne gave me a reassuring grin to get in the taxi.
We took off in the chaotic traffic as the driver swerved in and out of lanes. I turned to Suzanna who was laughing and seemed to think it was more comical so I relaxed.
We started to talk to her about her time in Bangkok so far. Suzanna was very sweet and easy to talk to. We talked about our travels to other countries, family, music, fashion. I found it so hard to believe that I was just walking down the street alone and stumbled across this fantastic new friend to tour all of Bangkok with me. As promised, our driver dropped us off at the first stop- Standing Buddha. This Buddha is located in the Nakhon District of Bangkok and is in the Wat Inthrawihan. Anytime you hear Wat it just translates to temple. Our driver told us to take our time and he would be waiting right at the curb when we returned. We walked around the temple and reached a 104 foot Golden Buddha. Surrounding the Buddha were endless tables of ways to give donations and merit. You could donate to pour wax into a bucket and make a candle. You could donate to make certificates with your name written on them. You could scribble your name and family members down on a piece of paper on a paddle board for luck. You could just donate money for incense, flowers or food. It was crazy to think how many different ways you could donate and how many ways they give offerings for merit. I dropped a few coins in the bucket and wrote my name and my family down on a piece of paper, placed on the rack and kneeled down in front of the hundred foot Buddha and closed my eyes. I opened my eyes back open to see the large Buddha above me and smiled. This was a different way to spend a Sunday. Walking Buddha to Buddha and giving different versions of merit.
I turned to Suzanna who was being taught about the candle wax merit. Once she was ready, we walked out front to see our driver waiting for us. We climbed back in the Tuk Tuk and he took us to our next stop Happy Buddha. The large Buddha was stored in a large glass display. The man standing on the side explained this was the Happy Buddha which was the Chinese Buddha and in the other temple was the Lucky Buddha which is the Thai Buddha. The Chinese Buddha has a round belly and the Thai Buddha has a skinny tall cone hat.
We got back in our Tuk Tuk and after being driven off the touristy street I quickly realized why this Tuk Tuk was only 20 Baht. The driver pulled up to a suit shop and told us we must go in and stay for no less than ten minutes. He receives tickets for how many tourists he brings in to shop and if we buy something he receives five tickets. Suzanna and I shared an annoyed glance but didn't have the energy to argue. We walked in and the salesman talked to us about their custom made suits and how he could have one made for us today for only $150. This would normally be a great suit, only we weren't in the market for a suit. We just wanted to continue with our temple tour.
We walked back outside and the driver asked, "You buy??" We shook our heads no and he turned from being our happy kind driver to a frustrated mean man. He drove us to the next stop. Golden Mountain in Wat Saket in the Pom Prap Sattru Phai district. After you climb the 344 stairs to the top you can see the view of the entire city. At this temple there were three different ways to give an offering for luck. Pan Duang- writing your name and birthday down on a paper and place in a bowl at the top often Golden Mountain under the Buddha. This brings you long life and good health. The next option is to offer "The Cloth"- select a color based on your birthday and take to the top of the Golden Mountain to cover the model of the mountain. This brings you money and happiness. Last is to offer "The Bell"- write your name on the bell and hang the bell on the top of Golden Mountain. This will make you famous and lucky.
I choose to purchase a bell. I handed the woman ฿70 and walked over to the table with markers to write my name on it. You hang your bell on the tower of bells and make your wish. I sat down and looked up at my name on my bell and closed my eyes to think about my wish. On our way out we bought fruit on a stick and bought our driver a bag of fruit as well. He was driving us around all day for close to nothing so we thought we would do something nice for him. He was very appreciative and thanked us.
After Golden Mountain, our driver took us to a jewelry store that he demanded we must stay in for no less than ten minutes. We told him we just wanted to go to the next temple and he told us he would take us after this stop. I gave Suzanna a glare of aggravation and we walked in. They asked us where we traveling from and showed us expensive fine jewelry for their exclusive special price. Everything was around ฿3000-10000. After exactly ten minutes, I motioned for Suzanna to leave.
The driver looked at our empty hands and said in a more aggravated tone, "You no buy anything?!?" He took us down another alley and said he another place to stop. I told him we just wanted to go to The Grand Palace and he denied our request and told us we had to go to one more stop so he could get tickets. There was no arguing with this man so in we went. After ten minutes, I grabbed Suzanna again and we walked out. Our driver was over us and told us we must go to one more place since we did not buy anything. This time I put my foot down and told him to take us to The Grand Palace and we would no longer be stopping at any other jewelry stores.
He pulled up to The Grand Palace and it was a large complex of temples and stunning colorful buildings. Once we reached the gate and paid ฿400 to enter we got in the security line. The guard took one look at me and shook his head no and pointed away. I looked at Suzanna and she said that I would have to have my shoulders and knees covered. My dress was not permitted in the palace. I reached into my bag and pulled out my scarf and wrapped it around my waist to cover my legs and got back in line. The guard rolled his eyes and pointed to the sign with a shirt symbol. He said my shoulders must be covered. I felt like I was back at the Basilica in Rome all over again. Now it made sense why every man we passed on the way in was wearing funky patterned drawstring pants over their clothes. Some Hawaiian print, some in Thai patterns. Each making people look ridiculous as if attending some sort random pant party bar crawl.
I asked the guard where to buy the clothes to cover my dress and he said outside of the palace. I looked at my phone and we only had thirty minutes left before they shut the main gate for entry. Growing a little panicked, I asked him if I had enough time. He said in a "I could care less tone," I could not enter in my dress so would have to buy more clothes or come back tomorrow. I turned to Suzanna and told her I had a plan. To run outside of the palace would take too long so I would just stop someone who was exiting the palace and offer to buy their pants. Surely no one would keep them, they were hideous.
I walked a few hundred yards to exit and asked the first man who walked out. He said I could buy them but you get the money back when you return the pants, it's a deposit. I told him that was fine so he removed the baggy pants, handed me the deposit form and I handed him ฿100. I slipped on the oversized pants and ran back up to the guard as I wrapped my scarf around my shoulders so no skin was exposed. He shook his head and pointed to the sign that displayed a shirt symbol. I asked why the scarf wasn't sufficient and he didn't elaborate. "Need shirt, no entry."
I pulled out my phone and I had ten minutes before the gates closed. Suzanna was flying out tomorrow so I told her to go ahead and I promised her I would find her in the palace. She didn't seem hopeful I would make it back but I was determined to get in that Palace.
I made it a run for it in my dress and my baggy Thai pants that were slipping off my body. Once I reached the street, I had to cross the speeding cars and Tuk Tuk's to make my way to the stand. Another couple had the same problem as me and were frantically paying the woman so that they could reach the gate before closing. The Palace accepts the last tourists at 3:30pm. The three of us ran all the way back and got to the gate which was now empty with a few guards standing around. We held up our tickets and they motioned for us to go through. Never a dull moment.
Once I walked in the temple, I looked at the sky and it was growing dark. It was about to rain and I was relieved. I was drenched in sweat from the already hot weather, humidity and the sprint to the gate with the baggy pants and Hawaiian shirt. I was more than welcoming the raindrops. It sprinkled for a few minutes as I walked around and admired the temples. At this point, I didn't mind being separated from Suzanna for a while. I was enjoying looking at all the brilliant colored buildings and getting lost in the Palace. I had never seen anything like this before. I remember being so in awe when I was traveling through Italy and Spain but Asia was a completely different experience and I was truly soaking it all in.
I turned another corner and ran into Suzanna. She seemed surprised to see me and said she didn't know if I would make it back in time. I smiled and reminded her I promised I would find her. We walked around the entire Palace and toured the temple with the famous Emerald Buddha before leaving. This may have been the most beautiful temple of all. I kneeled down and closed my eyes. I loved the concept of this in Thailand and was really coming to enjoy the peace and quiet of the temples as you sat in front of the Buddha's.
After seeing every inch of The Grand Palace we made our exit back to the streets. I returned my pants and Hawaiian shirt and received my deposit back. Suzanna asked what I wanted to do next and I looked at my phone. It was 5:30pm and I suggested we head back to Khao San Road. We stopped through markets and bought little souvenirs. I told her about the Thai Massage and then I would be having my daily one today if she wanted to join me. I walked her to her hotel and suggested we shower and I would meet her back at her hotel in one hour and we would go get massages and grab dinner. She loved this plan and was excited to try a Thai massage before she flew out tomorrow.
I walked back to my hostel and walked over to the computers in the lobby to check my mail. There were a couple boys on the computers as well and after a few minutes, I instantly recognized the strong German voice as Toby's. I smiled, turned and asked "Are you Toby?" He smiled and nodded. "Are you Julie?"
I shook his hand and told him it was good to finally meet him. I only had an hour so had to run upstairs. He asked "So talk to you at the same time, 5am?" I laughed and nodded in agreement. I showered quickly, changed and headed back to Khao San Road to pick up Suzanna. This was another favorite part of traveling in different countries. Making plans as if you were at home. Having dinner with a friend, getting massages and seeing where the night took us.
I reached her hotel and she wanted to show me the view from the rooftop pool bar. We took the elevator up to the top floor and her hotel had quite the view of Bangkok. I admired the city for a while and thought about what I normally would be doing on a Sunday evening back home. Surely not getting Thai massages and meeting a Parisian friend for dinner.
I guided Suzanna down Khao San Road and cut across to the street I toured the other day with Michael, Laura and Gene. It was much more low key then the busy Khao San Road and the vendors were very spread out and had nice restaurants with hanging lights along the streets. There were no cars on this road and we walked along and stopped into the first massage parlor we could find.
This was a little more run down then the parlors in Silom. The last few I had been in had separate rooms that you get massages in and in this parlor everyone was in one big room with mattresses only inches apart from the person beside you getting a massage. My body was so sore from touring all day that I didn't mind, I was just excited to relax even if that meant I would be inches away from Suzanna or the guy next to me. The woman instructed me to lie down and handed me pajamas. I changed into them, lay down and was pleasantly surprised to find that this was the best massage I'd had yet.
When we were done, Suzanna and I walked down the street and got Pad Thai on the street and ate as we walked and talked in search for a Sheesha stand. I had wanted to try flavored tobacco in Thailand since my cousin had my try it in D.C last month. Suzanna was equally interested so we sat down at the first stand we found. They served us a big pipe and we sat and talked for hours at this table, smoking the apple flavored tobacco. Suzanna was very sweet and compassionate. We talked about our love life, work and travel. We gave each other advice as if we had been lifelong friends. It doesn't matter if you're from Paris or Ohio, women always can relate to the topic of men. We shared stories about our current love interests and gave each other advice. It felt so natural talking with Suzanna about this and to hear a Parisians point of view was quite refreshing. From her advice, I got the feeling Parisians are dominating opinionated women. I'm sure everyone is different in France but Suzanna was a very independent, assertive woman. Suzanna asked me a lot of questions about my job and it was kind of a nice release to realize that I had finally reached a point of comfortability in my role. I had gone through a lot of changes with responsibility and pressure over the last year. Through our conversation, I realized I am at a point in my career now that I got through the growing pains of becoming a manager and embracing being a mentor.
As it approached 11:30pm, it started to sprinkle outside. Our table was in the streets so we felt it pouring lightly on our bodies and it felt good. Within second sprinkles turned into a downpour so we jumped out of our seats and dashed through the streets laughing uncontrollably at the monsoon that had just begun. We reached the fork in the road where she would turn right and I would go left and our smiles quickly faded to frowns. We realized the rain sped up our night and this was our farewell. She wished me the best of luck with my love life and promised to keep in touch on Facebook. I told her to travel safe tomorrow and that I was so glad to meet her. We hugged one last time and then took off in opposite directions.
While keeping a steady paced jog to the hostel in the rain, I halted and eased into a slow paced walk. It was nearly midnight, pouring rain and I was walking in the streets of Thailand after what was one of my favorite days so far. I marveled at the day that had unraveled. This was why I loved to travel and why I knew I would be alright when others were concerned about my trip to Bangkok. My day from start to finish was so incredibly unpredictable and I proved to be exactly what I needed. I needed to be off a schedule. I wanted to be reminded of the warm feeling when you're inspired. The odd chance of Meeting Suzanna, exploring Bangkok together and sharing our love life over dinner and finding our similarities provided this for me. How you can travel across the world and connect with someone on the level her and I did, is a moment that I will cherish for all of my days.
I crawled into bed and as promised, received my wakeup call from Toby around 4am, wanting to talk about his night through the blinds.
- comments
Picnic Ham (http://homecooking.about.com/library/ Baggy Pants and a Hawaiian shirt and you do not post a pic? How are we to continue laughing along with you? And when are you going to dress properly on this trip? Good Gravy Girl! I remember that Eddie Murphy seen you referred to as well. I dont think I'll ever have anything like that.... the best I have is talking through the walls that open up at Crestwood Elementary School.(you better not have forgotten about those) Glad you made it through the day and the Tuk Tuk driver didnt get mad at you two and drop you off in a back alley. You obviously have learned something over the past 29 years... you learned that you can make ANY man smile with FOOD. Fun Read!!! Keep Exploring. Your new name is Dora.