Thailand:Blog 12-2008

Dec 27 Arrive at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi airport at 7 AM local time, it's still 1 AM for me... no sleep on the plane and I have a whole day ahead. Meeting Pat, we decide to stay in her apartment for having some rest - the airport is few dozens km away from the city where she lives. The weather is warm, summer like, but not as suffocating as in last April. As far as I can say, the apartment is located in a very typical area of Bangkok: narrow streets, homes, old and new, 1-2-3 stories buildings. Pat works for a government bureau and that's the area where most of the government offices are located. We get out around 12, taxi, and we arrive at the location established to meet a friend of Pat's parents who - - paid - will drive us to the small town where Pat's parents, grandparents and relatives live, a town called Salokbat located in the middle of the continental part, 3 hours and a half from Bangkok. Once there, I get my first impact with the "common thai life style"; small town, 2 stories apartments, doors always open, people always in the street... at the parent's house, the ground floor is all open, set up as a work place where there are teachers holding classes privately for a few students. From the back you can access a square where there's a food market.
I am finally presented to Pat's parents.. Then we move to the grandparents, who live in a house surrounded by fields and trees, where we're gonna sleep for one night. 5 nice "thai breed" dogs cheer us with a peaceful look on their eyes. Language is a problem: mum understands English but doesn't speak it, the father probably understands a bit less, not to mention the grandparents. Ok.. Pat's brother (Pom) shows up with his wife. They brought a gift to their grandparents (can't remember what it was). The scene is the following: grandparents sat down, everyone else including myself on their knees with jointed hands, while the brother speaks a thankful speech while offering the gift to his grandparents. Geez, that's what I call "Respect for the elders"!
Yes certainly it depends on how much they feel this respect behind the ritualistic facade, but having seen how their relationships worked I can say their respect was authentic. Once the thanksgiving has finished, the grandmother bursts to tears... It's time for dinner: Pat, her parents and I go to Nakhong Sawan - the closest city - at a restaurant on a boat on the river - the same river (Chao Phra?) that flows in Bangkok. Very nice atmosphere at the table, the parents are friendly and the mother is smiling (the father is actually very serious) they don't look at me like "hey what are YOU doing to MY daughter!" and this helps... food is so&so, also according to mum. Generally, I've never been a fan of thai food, seafood and - even worse - bittersweet, are two factors that I never liked too much. During the meal I make my tired joke, product of almost 2 days of non-sleep: "now the restaurant starts to sail away". The answer is obviously "yes that's right!" and that's actually what happens: when the dinner is over we sail along the river, for about one hour, until the location where 4 rivers converge and join the Chao Phra. Pity it's total dark but interesting anyway. Return to home, finally in bed, I manage to sleep despite the mattress is hard as a stone. Dec 28
Wake up, we go to the parents' studio-house for a fast breakfast. I walk around to shoot some photos and videos, another taste of this simple life, light years far from the milanese metropolitan frantic... they live in a small street where there are shops of any kind, including a 7-eleven (open 24-7), and behind the houses along the street, there's this big market. Everybody knows anybody of course. We then starts our tour with the parents. Get up in the car and we drive towards Kamphaeng Phet, another medium-big sized city about 70km from there. Along the way we stop at the father's school (he's the director), then in a town called Klong Ran for a snack, and in Cha Kung Rao for lunch, in a small restaurant famous for their noodles.
	Eventually we arrive at Kamphaeng Phet and we visit the Historical park, the biggest touristic spot around where there are a lot of ruins of ancient temples. Like in Ayuthaya, those temples were originally covered with gold in many parts and they were destroyed during the Bhurma invasion, who burned everything keeping the gold and precious stones. Differently from Ayuthaya, here the ruins still shows signs of burns, seems like they were burned last month. Leaving the Historical Park behind, along the route back we stop by a hot spring site, where we sit with our feet in the water, then we leave to Salokbat at the grandpa's house. Before the farewell, I show up my gifts for the parents and grandparents.
My cousin Loredana prepared a kind of bowl to put a candle in, and from my mother a kind of sugar pot with a glass tray, both with colored corn flowers inside the glass (they also seems made by Loredana but they aren't). I ask Pat what to give to whom. Answer: the sugar pot to the grandpas, the candle bowl to the parents. Of course I did the same thanksgiving ritual, of course in English. My thanks are true. Then we go to the parent's place and here there are the gifts for me!
I taste a typical product of that region, a mini-banana, not too sweet, about 8 cm long. Then the same guy who drove us there shows up, and with him I and Pat drive back to Bangkok. Once in the city, we see groups of anti-riot policemen... what's going on? Right after, bunches of red shirts... oh no, don't tell me, riots again? let's hope for the best.... We arrive at Pat's place around 10.30 pm, a ham and cheese toast at 7 eleven and go to sleep. Dec 29 Pat goes to work today, wake up at 6am. I take it easier. Breakfast with tea + orange juice + ham and cheese toast, backpack on my shoulder and let's go for some photo tour, under a pretty hot sun. A couple of destinations planned, two temples in the city center, one of which is the famous Golden Mount - a temple build on the top of a small hill from which you can enjoy a nice panoramic view. On the way there, I walk in small streets to see some "common life" and I notice a feture of this city that last April slipped unnoticed before my eyes: Bangkok is full of places where to eat. From small take-away booth in front of the owner's place, where he cooks food in front of you, to proper restaurants, seems like every single street has at least a couple of places where to eat. It occurs to me that in Bangkok - and possibly in all the rest of Thailand - it's very common to buy ready food in the street rather than cooking it at home, mainly because it's cheaper.
	Along the way I come by chance at a third very nice small "golden" temple, the Wat Trithosathep. Few photos to the first temple, the Wat Rajanadda, unfortunately closed in the morning. Before the Golden Mount, I take a walk into a small quarter of "poor" houses assembled with wood and metal plates, by the Khlong One Ang canal near the temple. The houses aren't fancy looking but the whole small "village" is cozy and tidied up. Golden Mount, walking up the hill half a way to see the people ringing the bells, while all around you can hear the "elephant wise man" speaking some prayer through loudspeakers and the nature with its birds and waving trees providing a nice background to my relaxed sitting on a bench - today is actually hot.
I just start walking up again to enjoy a city panorama but it's time for lunch, Pat calls me. I walk back to her office, I'm as cooked as the food I'm eating. After the lunch break I go to rest. I'm ouf of shape... at least not fully ready for walking under the sun with two of my best friends + lenses + guide book in my backpack.
Just recovered a bit, my next goal is the "Throne Hall" building, at walk distance from the apartment. Huge, majestic, looking 100% european in its Renaissance style in the middle of a big garden. I shoot a couple of photos across the bars of the (closed) gate, I walk to the east side and right there I bump into all the red shirts. A guy and a girl make slightly upset speeches, the other red shirts clap their... wooden feet. That's the gadget they use here for applauses. In a few words, thry're not yet satisfied with the current government (lead by a 44 years old Prime Minister who looks even younger) but it looks like they won't mess up with the airport this time.
	I pick up Pat at the office around 4.30pm, we go to the nearby famous Khao San Road -The Pub Street in Bangkok where many foreign tourists are headed to not completely forget where they come from. Walking in the crowd, we sit down for a drink. I enjoy shooting "time lapse" video footages (1 frame per second, you know, the clouds moving fast in the sky?) with my beloved Canon G9, the little sibling of my two dSLR beasts and my favourite concerning the "feeling" (please forgive my photo-geekiness) which I brought here just for shooting videos and I ended up using it for photos too. Italian dinner at the restaurant on the other side of the street, I have some more than decent tortellini bolognese (fresh home made pasta, served a bit too raw), while Pat has pasta with saffron sauce and sea food. She pretty much liked it, but then she starts to feel strong itching on her face and sohulder... looks like an allergy, maybe to saffron? We can't do much, we just walk home.
Dec 30 Another working day for Pat, the allergy is gone. Today my photo-goals are the City Pillar (a shrine where there's this monument representing the "center" of the city) and the prestigious Sipakorn University, both adjacent to the Grand Palace area. This time there's no way I'm gonna walk there, I take a cab. Arrived at the City Pillar, I take my to cameras off of the backpack, and I meet a very nice local guy who - how could he guess? - thinks I am a tourist and he suggests me another temple, the Wat Intharawihan where, apparently today only, you can visit a huge standing Buddha statue. Thank you man, good luck. Back to the City Pillar, I see people praying, performing some sort of "future foresight" ritual and also an interesting feminine guy - close to his 70s, waring heavy makeup and colorful clothes - dancing on folk, percussive music.
	Walking towards the university, I arrive in this empty space north to the Grand Palace, where they are apparently building something in traditional style, and all around it's full of building parts that look trashed more than new. At the Sipakorn University, the only interesting place is a small courtyard with lights and shadows, modern art sculptures and lazy sleeping cats. I'm influenced by the latters and I sit down resting, still an out-of-shape victim of weight and hot.
Taxi to the giant standing Buddha, located at a walk distance to the apartment, then it's time for lunch with Pat. We go to a restaurant near the apartment (which she never tried), we are both satisfied. I had a sort of rice with a vegetable called "Pillumu" or something like, corresponding to our black olive. Not sweet (the hell... finally!) and good.
	Afternoon: Pat is free, visit at the third pole of the sacred triumvirate of Bangkok: the Wat Pho - being the first two the Wat Phra Kaew and Wat Arun temples which I visited last April. The main feature of the Wat Pho is the statue of a lying Buddha more than 40m long (lying = resting, not telling lies..).
After the visit, I feel like a tourist and I buy two paintings; and then it's time for shopping. I decide I want to go to the "electronic city" called Pantip Plaza, to check the prices of iPhone (which I need to develop my personal project) and a battery charger for my G9 since I forgot my one in Germany. The taxi driver during the trip advertises us with two nice touristic goals, both outside Bangkok, where he would drive us the day after: the most famous is the floating market, made of stilts and wooden boats on the river, and the second is the Tiger Temple, a place where tigers are breeded with love and where you can take photos with them. Both interesting, for Pat more the latter since she already went to the floating market twice and she was not too enthusiast. We decide to take our time for the final decision and that we would call the taxi driver later.
We arrive at Pantip Plaza, a big building with an indoor courtyard and 4-5 stories on the side where you can find any kind of electronic good. I verify thet the prices are slightly lower than in Germany. I realize that the iPhone hasn't landed yet in Thailand, you can find some cheapo copies or also originals, coming from USA. Low prices for the originals too, but I don't feel too confident with the idea, with some paranoia about me being stopped at the Frankfurt airport... "Was ist dis?". For the only time in the whole holiday I feel stressed; after a drink we decide to go back home, it's 6 o'clock. Taxi... taxi... nothing. Nada. All of them refuse to drive us... I feel tired, stressed and headache, and there's no way I'm gonna stay on a tuk tuk driving fast on bumpy streets with fast cars passing by.
I want a taxi, but everyone refuses... at least for 20 minutes. Eventually one "accepts the challenge"... And after 15 minutes he drives, we hear a "TLOK!", the engine turns off... he opens the engine hood and while apologizing. The stress has gone by the way and I and Pat have a laugh on it. The driver turns air conditioning off (something that always bothered me in any car I went into during the whole holiday) and the engine finally runs again. We reach home, I'm shattered in pieces. We then go back to Khao San Road, I'm moving in slow motion, I see people moving super fast like in the time lapse videos I recorded yesterday at the same place. Indian restaurant indoor, silence, relax, home, bed. Dec 31 Today is public holiday in Thailand and Pat is free, Giada sends a message: "we have landed!". We call Giada and then the taxi driver, we decide to visit only the Tiger Temple (link to official website: http://www.tigertemple.org/Eng/), partly because I'm fed up with staying in cars, partly to reserve ourselves some time to stay with Giada and Stefano who hopefully - in the meanwhile - would have visited something I already did (and so it was, Grand Palace and Khao San Road). Breakfast at a small place close to the apartment, lazy and careless bhurma waitress, genuine orange juice which is actually mandarin, home made bread. We meet the taxi driver at 11, and the trip begins. Today it's December 31st morning, public holiday, and people from Bangkok use to leave the city to go celebrating the new year's eve somewhere else. At the greater Bangkok area there's a hell of a traffic, we stay in a queue for a good hour. The taxi guy told us the trip would take 1 hour and a half but he obviously skipped the "detail" of December 31st. After 3 hours and a half, in one of my usual dramas, I'm casting any kind of spell on the taxi driver. I truly regret to have accepted the trip (but later on as you'll see I will truly regret to have regretted). We arrive at the temple at 3pm after 4 hours trip, half an our before they'll put the tigers back into cages. Even without traffic, we would have taken 2h30... smartass taxi driver.
We enter the temple area, actually we can't see any proper "temple" but it all looks like a farm/resort. We follow the signs leading us to this "tiger canyon" - an open space dug in the rocks resembling actually a small canyon, and here they are! My favourite animal, 15 of those big kitties, either sleeping or just relaxing. Their necks are chained to the ground and there are several guys/girls wearing a green shirt all around; the tourists arer allowed to access the area only 2-3 at a time. A guide explains us the deal: we can either take a few photos with the tigers, but if we pay 1000 bahts (22 euros) we can have a picture with a tiger resting her head on your legs, plus a photo with every other tiger. I chose the second option, and I must say it's really worth... you can hardly imagine this animal being so ferocious. The brochure tells us why they aren't: those tigers are grown up with humans all around since their birth, and also, the tiger is a night creature; it sleeps in the morning. They also tell us they eat like 6 cooked chickens each every day, plus other kinds of food.
	Being arrived late, we have the privilege to see the tigers getting unchained and brought to their cages, and we can take also a photo with a tiger walking the path. A question may arise in reader's mind: where/whose are all those photos? Quick answer: the guys there use your own camera to take photos, and whether it's a small compact or a reflex camera, they can use it fairly well. I checked out, and besides the writing subject who has huge lines below his eyes and hair looking like a sea bush, the big cats came out fairly well. Out of the "canyon", we meet other animals of many kinds: bulls, buffalos, roosters, pigs, horses, deers, who are served some food, while on the side a couple of fairly grown up tigers are enjoying drinking some milk from a baby's bottle.
Walking around we meet Supawan the Leopard, who lives confined in her own space limited by a net fence. She looks like sleeping on the top of the stairs leading to her small house, and Pat wakes her up. Yawning and stretching, she lazily walks down the stairs, slowly walk to another space in the corner after a couple of minutes. She puts her nose in a magic bucket and here are two chickens ready to be eaten. She grabs one with her teeth, slowly walks back in the garden and her meal takes place. Pee break, she then walks back to the second chicken. Meanwhile, the paparazzi crowd around has grown. She wouldn't appreciate that and she blows angry, exactly like a cat does, but without stopping her slow walk to the second chicken.
We leave Supawan at her quiet daily meal, reading the notes we learn about her history: she was originally caught by the villagers while she was spotted... "stealing" chickens. They delivered her to the Tiger Temple where she was put alone in her own space, not enjoying the same freedom as the tigers since she was already too grown up to make acquaintance with humans. The visit comes to an end, we walk outside the temple area and we just notice a buffalo (or whatever it is) standing still, looking back. After one minute the other buffalos behind us appear along the road, he was waiting for them... a true leader. Trip back to Bangkok; nobody goes to the city to celebrate the new year's eve and this time there's no traffic. We tahe 2 hours and a half and we're home by 7. Appointment with Giada at her hotel, and then we go guess where? Khao San Road. Walking and chatting, we sit in a Thai restaurant for dinner. Around 11pm, we have the great idea of taking a walk. The two couples get lost in a matter of minutes, I and Pat walk back where we came from and find a table in a pub. It's midnight, Giada and Stefano aren't visible yet and the new year's day ticking is kind of fuzzy, there's no official "final countdown" except the song with the same title aired everywhere. But who cares. Happy new year! We then meet Giada and Stefano in front of our pub. After the first sign of anglo-saxon drunkness around us, we decide to move to the beginning of the road where there's a show on stage - a cover band playing western hits. I buy a nice Doraemon floating baloon to Pat, of which she's a huge fan, and the nights end for us when the band finishes playing. Tuk tuk back home, tomorrow it's time to travel again. Arrived home, Pat while having a shower accidantally makes the ceramic soap holder detach from the wall and fall into pieces on the ground, she injures her foot. While she's taking care of the injury on the bed, I go in the bathroom to pick up the pieces - barefoot since there were 2cm of water - then I walk outside the bathroom and I feel something sinister under my foot: a big, brown maggot, which I almost squeezed, runs limping on the balcony. Lucky me I wasn't injured too... happy new year! Time for bed now, tomorrow it'll be Cambodia.