Big Bangkok and Beyond

Time is too short and always is fleeting
There's more to be doing and more to be eating
But press on to elsewhere, up, up and away
To slumber in transit: new city, new day

BANGKOK, THAILAND -- CHIANG MAI, THAILAND

August 6, 2008

Bangkok was a lot of fun, just because it was so good to have all the amenities of home, plus the added benefit of street food, of course. And so, on our last morning in that great city, we lazed.

I got up early anyways, since that's what I do, and went for a walk, which led me, quite unexpectedly and fortunately, to Wat Chanasongkhram Ratchaworamahawiharn. First some Australian touriest asked me something about the wat in offensive broken English, assuming I was Thai and thus, English-incapable, to which I responded, "Dude, I speak English." Ohm...


Inside the wat itself, I was lucky enough to have made it for morning prayers, and as I sat quietly at the back of the sanctuary, I listened to 50 monks intone a chant. It was so peaceful and calming and I was struck that such a large number of people could come together and sound as if one.

The rest of the morning was lazy, but did include some internet time. After checking my massive inbox, we headed to Chinatown to explore. It's like most other Chinatowns, which a few exceptions: they sell cross bows and rifles on the street, in a makeshift market, wedged between a porn stall and a watch stall. And there are no bakeries. What a travesty!


We wandered for a few hours before visiting the tourist trap Wat countaining the solid gold Buddha. It's not that much to see and it definitely need not make it to anyone's must-see list (damn you Toronto Star and your up-hyping of this wat!!!), but it was in the middle of Chinatown and we were there...so...

It ended up being more of a tourist visiting place than a wat, and to be honest, if I was one of the monks working here I'd be really embarrassed. They've taken tourist gouging to a whole new level: putting a gift shop in the sanctuary, right beside the so-called sacred Buddha? I'm having trouble with this one.


The next was indeed a highlight though: we took the express baot up the...whatever river runs through Bangkok...River from Chinatown to the Banglamphu area to see Wat Arun. The River is a little dirty sincde it's rainy season, but it was, in its own way, a spectacular ride nonetheless. There is something powerful about water, about the way that civilizations rely on it and are built up around it and tied to it fundamentally. Anyways, cheesy, yes, but it made me feel a little of the weight of civilization. Plus the view was pretty nice.


It's amazing how fast the boat gets you places in Bangkok. The bus ride to Chinatown was a good 25 minutes but the boat got us back in about 5.


A short ferry ride across the River brought us to Wat Arun, which had a very different look from all of the others that we've seen (and there are lots of wat in Bangkok. One might even argue that the ONLY thing to see in Bangkok are wats). From across the river, the Wat shimmered, but it was hard to explain or pinpoint why. As we approached it though, and finally got up within reaching distance, it was possible to see that the Wat was covered in sparkly mosaic tiles, in the same style as the Grand Palace. It was a pretty high climb to the top of the wat, and the steep staircase to the summit was reminiscent and brough back frightening memories of Angkor...but the view of Bangkok from the top was definitely worth the potential devastation of falling and cracking my head open.


From that vantage point, the juxtaposition of the new and the old that lends Bangkok its charm was clearly visible. Wats ever other building, interspersed with skyscrapers, apartment buildings, industrial sites, a beautiful suspension bridge, monuments, and of course, a river that runs through the city.


And then it was time to leave. We boarded an overnight bus to Chiang Mai (after grabbing some snack food at the 7 Eleven -- which is actually really quite good, think tropical fruit yogurt and coconut yogurt -- and some street pad thai for the last time).


Oh but honestly, I hated the bus. We booked through a company, and it turned out to be a tourist bus filled with noisy tourists and for my affected, prideful DIY self, I didn't like it. But it got us there overnight, and with few problems, even though the bus keps making rest stops (despite being assured by the tour company that there would only be one stop) that woke me up each time.

And that brings me to August 7, 2008, when we arrived in Chiang Mai at 7 am...