The Beach

Here's another post where I will rant about how perfect my life is. Despite various life vicissitudes, such as seeing loved ones getting old or sick, facing impeding death of close relatives, confronting one's own health issues, struggling to find love, purpose and mindfulness, despite all that - I look at the life I've lived so far and think of it as pretty fucking amazing. Wow, what an eclectic collection of adventures and experiences it has been!

July 3rd 2011 - Travis's birthday camping trip, Groveland, California

Back to Bangkok

I went back to Bangkok with Daniel--back to the land of fruit smoothies, fresh-squeezed orange juice, incredible food, temples and cool cats.

Four-inch-high monks for sale on the street.

Border crossings are never much fun. Daniel and I took a minibus from Siem Reap to Bangkok--it was actually a combination of trucks and minibuses. Below is a photo of Daniel after crossing into Thailand, right before he ate his first real Thai meal.

We went to a creepy museum called the Siriraj Medical Museum inside of the Siriraj Hospital complex. Photography wasn't allowed, but let me just briefly describe some of the things you encounter in the museum: deformed baby fetuses floating in formaldehyde, human elephantitis testicle (about the size of a large window A/C), mummified corpse of Si Quey, the cannibal serial killer who killed and ate around 30 Thai children in the 1950s, upbeat country music, a fake sushi restaurant (part of the parasite section), photographs of mutilated bodies, human skulls with bullet holes ... and more!

Local elementary school children are brought on class field trips to this museum. It was hard for us to learn because all of the descriptions were in Thai.

A very weird display in the lobby of the hospital.

We checked out a few temples, including the giant reclining Buddha.

Keeping Thais in the clear.

We followed a Lonely Planet walking tour through Chinatown that was incredibly difficult to follow, since there are no street signs (!) in Bangkok.

High voltage!

Next we checked out an Indian restaurant that was recommended in the Lonely Planet: Royal India. It was so delicious--some of the best Indian food I've ever had. Also, the restaurant was air conditioned--I really did feel like royalty during our meal.

We also met up with Daniel's dad's friend and her friend one night. The four of us went to a nice restaurant and had a blast.

Climbing to the top of some temple for a view of historic Chinatown.

The best way to describe the streets is chaotic. People were hustling, driving motorbikes, pushing carts, selling things, buying things--you name it--in these tiny alleys. It was hard to handle after a while, especially with us getting lost every five minutes. Maybe we should have just walked around aimlessly instead of trying to follow the specific route mentioned in the book...

Gigantic shoes!

An old billboard for a restaurant that serves shark fin soup.

We walked through the machine shop area ... impressive piles of parts.

We hit up the Golden Temple and it was actually pretty cool, even after seeing multitudes of temples.

And we went to the Jim Thompson House Museum, which I would definitely recommend.

Palm trees in Jim's jungle of a yard.

We tried to go to a Muay Thai match, but it was too expensive, so we went to Soi Polo Fried Chicken restaurant instead.

Papaya salad, fried chicken with crispy garlic on top, and sticky rice.

We saw the King being taken to the hospital!

And we decided to get out of the city for a night, so we went to Koh Samed, an island about four hours outside of Bangkok (driving).

Boat to the island.

We rented a scooter, which was fun but at the same time kind of struggling because most of the roads on the island were unpaved with huge pot holes. There were times when I had to drive through shallow lakes that formed on the muddy dirt roads.

No reservation? No problem. We stayed at Ao Nuan Bungalows, a place with a private beach. Really cheap and really chill, I loved it.

Our bungalow. Electricity doesn't go on until after the sun sets.

A bunch of (dare I say sexy?) ladyboys in G-string bikinis were prancing around on the beach when we arrived.

That night there was a wicked thunderstorm that lasted for hours. Maybe the thunder seemed louder because it echoed in the bay? The blinding light flashes followed by booming sounds were making my heart race. Eventually the sun started to rise, the rain let up, and I went outside to take some photos of the eerie sky. I tied plastic bags on my feet so they didn't get too sandy or wet--it worked like a charm.

Monica and I are now in the Philippines and I miss Thai food and accommodation. The people are great here, but the food isn't, and the lodging is more expensive (for what you get) than the rest of SE Asia. We spent a week in the mountains and we're about to catch a flight to Bohol for some more beach chilling.

The Most Bizarre Thai Temple

Our minivan made an unexpected stop after leaving Chiang Mai for Chiang Khong, on our way to catch the slow boat to Luang Prabang, Laos ...



It was an insane, white, bizarre, terrifying and utterly mind-blowing temple!

We had no idea we were stopping at all, let alone stopping at something so mysterious and jaw-dropping as this. As I walked up to the seemingly-normal temple, I noticed demonic red and white traffic cones blocking the entrance and wondered what was going on.



The driver gave us a 15-minute limit, which I must have pushed to at least 20. This didn't leave time to talk to anyone to figure out what this temple was all about. Neither were there any brochures or signs anywhere to enlighten us.

For some reason, there was a Jackie Chan cut-out near the ticket booth. This was the least weird thing about this place.



An incredible use of Spanish moss...

Does this sign mean dogs are permitted?

No burgers or milkshakes, no umbrellas, no smoking, no dogs. I can't figure out what the bottom-left graphic means, but bottom-right seems to say that a mother taking her child here is okay. I don't know if I'd take mine here.

After Internet investigation, I found out it's called Wat Rong Khun, and it was conceived by acclaimed Thai artist Chalermchai Kositpipat. Construction began in 1997 and possibly finished in 2008, though some sources say it is still undergoing additions and won't be finished for another 100 years.

Check out some of the crazy details outside of this temple:

The white color stands for Lord Buddha’s purity; the white glass stands for Lord Buddha’s wisdom that "shines brightly all over the Earth and the Universe."

The bridge leading to the temple represents the crossing over from the cycle of rebirth to the Abode of Buddha. The small semicircle before the bridge stands for the human world. The big circle with fangs is the mouth of Rahu, meaning impurities in the mind, a representation of hell or suffering. [Wikipedia]

The Sea of Hands.

Monetary offerings.

Interesting shoe choice.

The coolest "No Smoking" sign I've ever seen.

I'm not really sure what this was about, but people wrote things on these silver heart-like shapes and hung them from weird conical towers.

A "No Smoking" sculpture.

The only gold in the area.

I'm so glad I was able to see something so cool and with so little effort--that doesn't happen too often. It was out-of-this-world ... I only wish I had more time to really take in all of its details and beauty. All the more reason to go back one day.