Lopburi
Yesterday morning I caught a 6 am train to Lopburi, known to westerners as the monkey town. I went for the monkeys, like anybody, but the best part of the day was meeting lots of different Thai people. I'm starting to feel more involved in the culture, eating the street food, feeling comfortable with my stock phrases, sign language, laughter and 'mai bpen rai'.
I checked into a rather dinghy place called the Nett Hotel, which is pretty convenient to the wats. I wandered around the old Royal Palace, which is monkey-free, but I did see a blue-headed lizard-- I've since seen more. As I was leaving the grounds, an old man waved me over and we started talking. He had lived in the states for a while, even getting a degree in Maryland (again, a small world). Prasit is from near Chiang Mai and worked as a doctor in Bangkok. He wanted to talk about Charles Dickens, Bernard Shaw and politics. Soon he offered to buy me a drink-- he actually offered to buy me lunch but I turned him down. We sat in a cafe drinking Lipton iced tea from bottles and hung out during the hot part of the day.
Afterwards, I went to Pram Sot, which is absolutely overrun with monkeys. There are two groups of monkeys-- the temple ones (I guess they're the non-secular, spiritual tribe), and the city monkeys, which have succumbed to the world's temptations. The latter hang from telephone wires, climb on cars, and generally make mischief. It was still the hot part of the day so many monkeys were huddled against the walls of the temple trying to stay cool, napping and picking bugs from each other and eating them.
Across the street at the Kala Temple, I was relaxing in the shade near a group of ceremonial dancers when I was again beckoned over. The group performs for families when they come to the shrine, and they were napping too. One of them spoke decent English and wanted to know why I didn't have a wedding ring. Single farang men get a lot of attention regarding this. I ended up just talking and relaxing with them for a while. Strangely enough, I haven't had too many difficulties understanding Thais. Well, that's not entirely true, but I think I'm doing just as well as anybody.
The Kala shrine is in the middle of a busy traffic circle and pretty soon a pick-up truck passed by with a live band playing in the back (complete with drums, guitar, etc.) Other trucks followed with dancing Thais. One of the dancers told me that this is a regular thing at the Kala Shrine, and happens every week. The celebrators go on to pray at the shrine, which was a spectacle in itself.
In the evening I went over to a park and there were about 20 Thais my age playing full court basketball. I ended up getting in a game-- sadly, I did not well represent my basketball playing abilities as befitting an American, other than one decent fade-away shot, but I had a great time hanging out with them for a few hours.
Meanwhile, other farangs get a Stevie Wonder thing going whenever I cross their paths. I find it quite amusing-- perhaps the sight of another westerner doesn't jive with their idyllic vacations.
I checked into a rather dinghy place called the Nett Hotel, which is pretty convenient to the wats. I wandered around the old Royal Palace, which is monkey-free, but I did see a blue-headed lizard-- I've since seen more. As I was leaving the grounds, an old man waved me over and we started talking. He had lived in the states for a while, even getting a degree in Maryland (again, a small world). Prasit is from near Chiang Mai and worked as a doctor in Bangkok. He wanted to talk about Charles Dickens, Bernard Shaw and politics. Soon he offered to buy me a drink-- he actually offered to buy me lunch but I turned him down. We sat in a cafe drinking Lipton iced tea from bottles and hung out during the hot part of the day.
Afterwards, I went to Pram Sot, which is absolutely overrun with monkeys. There are two groups of monkeys-- the temple ones (I guess they're the non-secular, spiritual tribe), and the city monkeys, which have succumbed to the world's temptations. The latter hang from telephone wires, climb on cars, and generally make mischief. It was still the hot part of the day so many monkeys were huddled against the walls of the temple trying to stay cool, napping and picking bugs from each other and eating them.
Across the street at the Kala Temple, I was relaxing in the shade near a group of ceremonial dancers when I was again beckoned over. The group performs for families when they come to the shrine, and they were napping too. One of them spoke decent English and wanted to know why I didn't have a wedding ring. Single farang men get a lot of attention regarding this. I ended up just talking and relaxing with them for a while. Strangely enough, I haven't had too many difficulties understanding Thais. Well, that's not entirely true, but I think I'm doing just as well as anybody.
The Kala shrine is in the middle of a busy traffic circle and pretty soon a pick-up truck passed by with a live band playing in the back (complete with drums, guitar, etc.) Other trucks followed with dancing Thais. One of the dancers told me that this is a regular thing at the Kala Shrine, and happens every week. The celebrators go on to pray at the shrine, which was a spectacle in itself.
In the evening I went over to a park and there were about 20 Thais my age playing full court basketball. I ended up getting in a game-- sadly, I did not well represent my basketball playing abilities as befitting an American, other than one decent fade-away shot, but I had a great time hanging out with them for a few hours.
Meanwhile, other farangs get a Stevie Wonder thing going whenever I cross their paths. I find it quite amusing-- perhaps the sight of another westerner doesn't jive with their idyllic vacations.
posted by Franz K at 3:36 AM
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