Suwatdee Khrap from Ayuthaya
Right now it's 7:30 in the evening and I'm sitting in a guesthouse on the river in Ayuthaya. It's a beautiful night out. The place is an old teak house full of antiques and whirring ceiling fans. I wish that Kate were here because she would love this place.
I landed in Bangkok at around noon and the first thing I did was change my ticket (sort of) at the China Airlines office. So now I'm planning on coming back to the states on July 25th. That is, I've changed about 90% of it, but I still have to figure out the L.A.-Portland leg.
The Don Muang train station platform was right by the airport and I only had to wait about half an hour for a train to Ayuthaya. It was raining and the air had the texture of soup, but it felt like a second skin. It felt like India again. It's strange-- my skin has been sticky all day but I've actually found this 90 degree weather to be very pleasant, therapeutic even. It didn't seem that hot to me at all.
The train ride was wonderful. I really do feel a lot of parallels to being in India. Vendors were selling cakes and sodas. All the windows were open and we sped by lush vegetation and shanties, huge ferns and banana trees and heaps of trash. It was only about an hour to Ayuthaya and I checked in at the guesthouse. I expected to be exhausted after only about 3-4 hours of sleep last night (or was it the night before? I've lost so many hours). Instead, I ended up walking through Ayuthaya's market, passing everything from barbequed bats to furry lychee-looking fruits to the infamous jackfruit filling the air with its stench. Heaps of curries and good luck charms and even two kids sitting cross-legged by a hunk of flayed meat playing their PS2 video games.
I ended up at the Ayuthaya Historical Park, which is full of these fantastic ruins. Streams run through the park and I crossed wooden footbridges to reach little islands with dilapidated wats and gold Buddhas. In one of the famous wats, monks had draped the Buddha statues in diaphanous orange cloths. The flowers are so incredibly fragrant in this heat. Birds were screeching and calling overhead-- it's rare that bird song is loud enough for me to hear it.
The food is great too. I ended up at a place right near the ruins where I had a shrimp and lemongrass dish and it would not be an exaggeration to say it was the best Thai food I've ever had. I never knew that this is what Thai food really tastes like. I had dinner with an Aussie and a Dutch girl-- the Aussie runs a backpacking hostel in Queeensland.
One more thing before I sign off, and this is just to show what a small world it is. While I was waiting in Taipei for my flight to Bangkok, I met five people. Three of them were from Portland and a fourth was from my mom's tiny hometown of Souix City, Iowa. On the plane to Bangkok, I sat next to a couple (Thai immigrants) who lived in Seattle. And when I was walking to the Don Muang platform I met two guys on their way to Laos who were also from Portland. How really very strange this is.... and I'm finding that language hasn't been much of a barrier. I'm already starting to get the hang of my few Thai phrases-- believe me, I've been corrected numerous times. All of the Thais I've met have been so incredibly friendly. Experiencing the famous Thai smile, wow... I even get it from people passing by on mopeds, buses, speeding trains.
And no culture shock, at least not yet. Everything has felt completely natural.
I landed in Bangkok at around noon and the first thing I did was change my ticket (sort of) at the China Airlines office. So now I'm planning on coming back to the states on July 25th. That is, I've changed about 90% of it, but I still have to figure out the L.A.-Portland leg.
The Don Muang train station platform was right by the airport and I only had to wait about half an hour for a train to Ayuthaya. It was raining and the air had the texture of soup, but it felt like a second skin. It felt like India again. It's strange-- my skin has been sticky all day but I've actually found this 90 degree weather to be very pleasant, therapeutic even. It didn't seem that hot to me at all.
The train ride was wonderful. I really do feel a lot of parallels to being in India. Vendors were selling cakes and sodas. All the windows were open and we sped by lush vegetation and shanties, huge ferns and banana trees and heaps of trash. It was only about an hour to Ayuthaya and I checked in at the guesthouse. I expected to be exhausted after only about 3-4 hours of sleep last night (or was it the night before? I've lost so many hours). Instead, I ended up walking through Ayuthaya's market, passing everything from barbequed bats to furry lychee-looking fruits to the infamous jackfruit filling the air with its stench. Heaps of curries and good luck charms and even two kids sitting cross-legged by a hunk of flayed meat playing their PS2 video games.
I ended up at the Ayuthaya Historical Park, which is full of these fantastic ruins. Streams run through the park and I crossed wooden footbridges to reach little islands with dilapidated wats and gold Buddhas. In one of the famous wats, monks had draped the Buddha statues in diaphanous orange cloths. The flowers are so incredibly fragrant in this heat. Birds were screeching and calling overhead-- it's rare that bird song is loud enough for me to hear it.
The food is great too. I ended up at a place right near the ruins where I had a shrimp and lemongrass dish and it would not be an exaggeration to say it was the best Thai food I've ever had. I never knew that this is what Thai food really tastes like. I had dinner with an Aussie and a Dutch girl-- the Aussie runs a backpacking hostel in Queeensland.
One more thing before I sign off, and this is just to show what a small world it is. While I was waiting in Taipei for my flight to Bangkok, I met five people. Three of them were from Portland and a fourth was from my mom's tiny hometown of Souix City, Iowa. On the plane to Bangkok, I sat next to a couple (Thai immigrants) who lived in Seattle. And when I was walking to the Don Muang platform I met two guys on their way to Laos who were also from Portland. How really very strange this is.... and I'm finding that language hasn't been much of a barrier. I'm already starting to get the hang of my few Thai phrases-- believe me, I've been corrected numerous times. All of the Thais I've met have been so incredibly friendly. Experiencing the famous Thai smile, wow... I even get it from people passing by on mopeds, buses, speeding trains.
And no culture shock, at least not yet. Everything has felt completely natural.
posted by Franz K at 5:29 AM
2 Comments:
Franz,
This seems so dreamlike, reading these descriptions from this side of the world. Here and there, different constellations, different rains, different ruins, ancient and contemporary, your anticipation of how it would be becoming experience and memory.
Will there be any photos on your blog? Are you keeping a journal?
l and g,
AMK
i'm glad to hear that you really are alive and well!
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