All that Glitters IS Gold

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I made it to Bangkok! My plane arrived at 1145pm, so it was a bit insane trying to find my way to an even more insane Kao San Road, which is tourist central for the backpacker crowd. Basically, I felt like I'd been dropped into the middle of a giant party where everyone was hardcore partying and I was Sober Susie, carrying a backpack down the middle of a street, directions in hand. I had flashbacks to a similar situation when my brother and I arrived in Pamplona for the running of the bulls at 1am. Luckily there were no people passed out on top of statues this time.

I found my hostel, which was on a off road and much quieter. I had found out a few weeks ago that a teacher friend in Korea, Cindy from Canada, was going to arrive in Bangkok 2 days before me, so we planned to have a ball together. She was already in our room when I arrived, planning our next day. We decided to go outside for some pad thai and egg rolls on the street. We sat down on a curb, and were immediately approacted by 2 sets of guys on either side. Oh hey brah, no thanks. Cindy and I looked at each other, rolled our eyes, and then said, sorry, but this lady's goin to bed! Ya'll have fun now. (Ok, maybe just I said that, the Canadian sure didn't say ya'll.)

We woke up the next morn at 12 (super soft sheets and A/C make for a very happy Kathleen- so decadent! (This shows you how much lower my standard of living has become)). Good thing, though, because we'd planned a very busy day. First, we picked up some fresh pineapple, some papaya salad (so good) and spicy pork salad, which was a bit spicy for me, but ok.

Then we took the river boat (diiirrrrrty river - ew) to the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew. To get into the place, you must be properly attired- no tanks, shorts, etc, so they have long skirts/pants you can borrow. It was funny to see many tourists in all the vibrantly colored Thai clothes with their normal shirt. As I soon learned, Thailand's dynasty's were all about gold, gold, gold. Everying was so shiny and sparkly, it was a major sensory overload. The Wat (temple) was simply wonderful - but no pictures were allowed. The main attraction there is the emerald Buddha that resides over everyone, and was discovered in 1434 by a monk who thought he saw emerald under a plaster facade. It's actually made of jade. Oops. The walls are covered with murals depicting scenes of the Buddha's life and scenes of Enlightenment and Temptation, and scenes from Thai proverbs and stories. It struck me how similar the room was to the Sistene Chapel, where the stories of Christ and hell/heaven are depicted instead. Interesting how similar things can be, world and religions apart.

Then we went across the street to Wat Pho which is famous for its giant reclining Buddha. I thought it's be like 10m or something, but when I walked in the building, I was astounded to see it measured 46m long!! Huuuuge! It's gilded with gold leaf (surprise) and the feet are covered with mother-of-pearl that shows the 108 traits that signify the pre-destined Buddha. Interesting, right? I enjoyed this temple, though it was less ornate than the first. But apparently, I started at the top, so I was bound to be a little less impressed each time. My bad.

Then we took a short ferry hope across the river to our last temple, Wat Arun, or Temple of Dawn. It has an 82m stupa and is covered with a colorful floral mosaic motif made of porcelain. There were some super steep steps you could take to the top - which of course I did, gripping tightly and fighting off vertigo. The view of the river was nice, and some skyscrapers in the background, but other than that, it wasn't that great. I think the best view is of the temple itself from the river.

By that time we were famished, so we took the river ferry to China Town. There, we picked our way through all vendors, picking up egg rolls, balls of fried chicken meat, and duck noodle soup to dine on. It was so yummy! We wandered around a bit, for China Town is really busy at night, so it was fun to watch the bustle. Finally, we admitted we were exhausted and headed back to Kao San road and all its insanity. A hot shower (first in 4 months!) and bad horror movies made for a nice rest. Thinking of dessert...

I think I survived my first day pretty well - no scams, nothing stolen, nothing lost, and a lot of pictures taken. I also learned how to wave off all the guys trying to sell me stuff- man, that gets annoying. We'll see how long I can take it! A great first day.

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