sawadee ka

I think the more time we spend in Bangkok, the crazier that city gets. With over 10 million people, there are no rules on the road, and anything goes. The streets are full of exhaust and commotion with a great need for a bit of a hose down.

There are no grocery stores, so locals get their food on markets held underneath highway overpasses and in clearly unsanitary conditions. All kind of fish sit out in the sun where you can also take away delicacies like cooked bugs, fried chicken or pork skin and yummy looking serpent heads. Um, no thanks.

The grand palace is a site to be seen. These are sacred royal grounds of the king, also where the story of The King and I was set when Anna became the tutor to the King’s son. However, after being misdirected by ‘an employee of the royal grounds’ that ‘royal palace closed - here is tuk tuk - go gem shopping - no charge’ we finally found our way in. And no it was not closed.

We were later warned that if any young person claims to be a university student and recommends sites to see off the beaten path, be wary, they are scamming you and so is the tuk-tuk driver (see last entry). Oops. But even amongst all of the dirty canals and poverty, the monks are everywhere and the beautiful temples are refuge from the hustle and bustle outside.

Later on we decided to get foot massages, and after the previous Traditional Thai Massage our hopes were high. Little did we know this ‘foot massage’ involved reflexology, which is a nice way to describe jabbing a sharp wooden stick onto various parts of the feet until immense shooting pain is felt. When did pampering become so difficult?

On our way home we came across the one of the many night markets where we discovered that yes indeed, we were being offered a peek at the ‘ping pong’ shows. Enough said? We had a good laugh, but it is so sad to see how much hold the prostitution industry has in Bangkok, where young women have become this desperate, hoping that a white man will fall in love and marry her to pay for a better life for her and her family.

Maisie and Ryan picked us up the next morning to head up to Ayuthaya for the day to tour the ancient ruins of the former capitol of Thailand and learn more about Buddhism. The history of the ruins is amazing, there are just so many temples and relics to be appreciated, they literally are everywhere.

In the blistering heat though, where the humidity is intense ant the temp gets up to 95 degrees, we couldn’t help but wonder how this can possibly be ‘the cold season’ ? Our friends were wearing jeans and the Buddha is wearing his winter coat to keep from catching cold (no joke).

More to follow from Chiang Mai..