Exploring On My Own (with a guide paid to arrange everything and a driver to keep the AC running)

The title really says it all for this one. Saturday was actual independence. After having a lunch with the others at Central Market (a huge department store--think Marshall Fields, but with 5 times the money), I took the Skytrain by myself a few stations down to the MBK center. The MBK center is really like nothing I've ever seen. It is six or seven floors (I never did figure out how many) of completely random merchandise. A whole floor, that literally spreads for what feels like all of downtown Galena, full of cell phones. Another floor of all fake American, Italian, and British name-brand clothing. I'm not usually one for shopping, but I did enjoy myself. I bought a Coka-Cola shirt, except the writing is all in Thai and a soft, all cotton cut shirt similar to the one I wanted to buy in Turkey and that Uma tried to get me in India.

Sunday was more non-traditional tourism. I spent the day traveling to Ayudhya (spelled one of at least six different ways), which was the second capital of Thailand. It dates mainly from the 14th to the 17th centuries and was conquered (read: burnt almost to the ground) by the Burmese--a fact many of the Thai people seem quite unwilling to forget. I must recommend my method of travel to all. I had a private tour guide who led me around and told me all the history, and a private car and driver to quickly shuttle from one ruin to the next--in full air conditioning. The AC was actually necessary, as this was the hottest I have ever been in my life. My Lonely Planet guide highly recommended Ayudhya, but said to avoid it from 11am to 4pm, so of course I arrived there at 11 and left at 4--you all know how I love to follow directions. I have never been so sticky or grimy--ever.

The sites are, like so many things here, indescribable. They are so much larger than I imagined. And so much grander. We began actually outside of Ayudhya, in the Summer Palace--a name not really fitting as Thailand has no summer and the palace has no set scheduled use. It is still sometimes used by the royal family and was built by King Rama V aka King Chulalonghorn (the eldest son in the King and I--in case anyone was wondering, that working is almost entirely fictional). Running water and canals run through the whole complex. Here is the observatory:



We then traveled to about seven of the major ruined temples. (This was, in fact, quite impressive. Most people only see about four--I've finally acclamated to the weather, and the private driver helped, too.) Some temples are still used by the Thai people, many are not. This one is, and is Traditional Thai style:

An abandoned temple in the Cambodian style:

You'll have to forgive me not namig or going into too much detail. The names are all blending together, and I think anecdotes more entertaining anyway. Me at the most famous of Ayudhya's temples, whose three matching pagodas are the symbol of the city:

We had lunch at a traditonal Thai outdoor restaurant. Great food, and right on the lake. And by lake, I mean non-moving water where mosquitoes breed the size of owls and eat small children. The whole surface was covered by water hyacinth, so this picture really does no justice.







My guide spent some time as a Buddhist nun and strongly believes in the many Buddhist and Thai superstitions. I know now (and quite like) many of them. Each day has a color associated with it. I was born (I now know) on a Monday, which makes my color yellow and makes me a charming person. My corresponding sign of the Buddha is him standing with one outturned palm, calling for peace. (Incidentally, the King of Thailand was also born on Monday, and hence, most of the Thai people wear yellow on Monday.) I am great friends with those born on Wednesday (Green) and should marry someone born on Friday (I've forgotten the color) and should avoid those born on Sunday (Red). So those of you born on Sunday, stay away; those from Friday, let's have dinner.

We visited a temple where a statue's head has grown into tree roots. Legend claims it was hidden there from the Burmese, and raised by the tree.



To close, I would like to share a rather amusing, if embarrassing, story. My guide's name was Pudge (she was actually a tad large, at least for a Thai woman) and hence the nickname. I, however, have never been that good with names, and kept calling her Chub and Chubs, which, in my defense, are really very similar to Pudge. I don't worry; her English was not good enough for her to understand my mistake. The driver was also great fun--he spoke no English, but would laugh along with ol' Pudge and I every time we joked, though he had no idea of what we were saying.

That certainly got long. Best to all and keep in touch, Mike.

A not-so-quick (in the making) note.

This was going to be a long, detailed update. I just spent an hour trying to upload six photos. Let's just say Blogger and I are not getting along--and I think I scared the dog. Anyway, look for a real post sometime soon.

So I remember which pictures I chose: 54,55,63,71,81,88.

Sneak peak: The title of the post is "Exploring On My Own (with a guide paid to arrange everything and a driver to keep the AC running).

Sightseeing and some photos

Hola, all. Or more fittingly, Swaddi Krap! I spent the weekend continuing my over-run-with-Americans-almost-getting-run-over-by-tuk-tuks sightseeing tour. Saturday was quite action packed:

We got up early and had the driver take us down to a "port" on the Chao Phraya River (the river that runs through Bangkok). We took hired a long boat and sat VERY low in the water while traveling downstream.

This was our actual boat. As you can see, the river is nearly as clean as the Mississippi. Anyway, we took the boat down to the flower market, which my mother would love. Even I found it rather interesting--note that a bunch of these bright orchids is 35 baht, oh about $1. (Hopefully you can click on a photo to make it larger.)

After exploring the flower market, we hired a tuk-tuk which took (haha!) us to the Grand Palace. The Grand Palace was built by King Rama I in the 1700s. Each subsequent king has taken the official name Rama (we are currently on King Rama IX). The name is for the hero of the Ramayana, a particularly popular (and LONG) traditional story.

Our tuk-tuk. Please try and note the amazing sound system: He seriously bungee corded speakers to the roof.

The Grand Palace was really too much to try and take in--sooo many colors and sooo much decoration. No picture could ever do it justice, though of course I tried.

So longboat--> flowermarket--> tuk-tuk-->Grand Palace, and though the weather was much cooler and more breezy than usual, I was still completely worn out. When we got home, I took a nap.

To end, some pictures from last weekend, as promised. These are of Wat Po.

The End of My First Week

To begin, I've been getting a few emails about the political situation here in Thailand. Everything is perfectly safe, and to be honest, not that "tumultuous" or whatever the media has been calling it. Here is an article that explains the situation well: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7427309.stm Basically, the military and some others overthrew the government in a coup last year. A national election was called, and then the same people were put back in power by a large majority, again, so most analysts think the military will not step in, as it is clear these guys are who the people want. We have seen some of these "mass protests." About 150 people wearing yellow (the king's color) marched downtown, very quietly chanting. Most people here don't think a coup will occur again, and even if it did, it would most likely by calm and peaceful.

Well, for my life here: I've finished my first week here in Bangkok. It went very well. I am really enjoying my internship. My first week entailed finishing my tax report, and then working with the Executive Director and and another intern to write up an investment and trade review. Basically, I spent hours with charts and a calculator figuring up Foreign Direct Investment (yea Model UN research) and import/export trends and then working with others to write up the results. Looking back on what I just wrote makes the job seem boring, but I really like it. I get to actually use lots of the information my Economics and Math classes have shoved down my throat.

On Saturday, we went to Wat Po. Wat means temple, and Po is the type of tree under which Buddha reached Enlightenment. It is a huge temple most famous for its reclining Buddha statue (the Buddha is 138 ft. tall). I took pictures, and then my camera promptly died from lack of batteries. So, as soon as I get more batteries, I will upload some pictures for those of you who would like to see a Buddhist temple/massive statue. It was extraordinarily hot, especially because I had to wear pants and real tennis shoes out of respect.

On Sunday, we were headed to the Grand Palace (another of Bangkok's major historic destinations) when a major storm hit, so instead we went to the mall to see a movie. The mall is called Siam Paragon and it is the largest mall I have ever seen, and of the same caliber of North Park in Dallas (that means something to most of you, to the others think Woodfield). It has seven floor of regular mall space, a food court the size of Kennedy Mall in Dubuque (Midway mall in Sherman) and an entire floor dedicated to luxury cars. We're talking Ferrari, Maserati, and Lamborghini. The movie theatre was also ridiculously nice. We arrived too late to get the "nice seats" so instead we sat in the "cheap seats." I use quotation marks because our seats were still leather reclining seats with big headsets. Incidentally, the Indiana Jones movie was much better than I was expecting, though I wasn't expecting much. Everyone is right, it has nothing on the first ones, but is still worth seeing.

That does seem to be rather long, so best of luck to all,
Mike

AMCHAM or, Getting Kicked Out of a Cab

I have now finished two days of my internship at the American Chamber of Commerce, affectionately called AMCHAM. My first day began meeting at the office at 6:45 am. I quickly met my boss and the two other interns and then hopped in a government van. We were going to the dedication of a school which AMCHAM and a private company had helped renovate near Rayong on the coast. The hour and a half long drive took three hours (we got lost--three or four times). However, my first act as an intern was to tour the school. It was actually quite impressive. Not by Western standards maybe, but 70 students (K-6th grade) with 5 teachers. There were computers, separate classrooms (including a music room), and bathrooms. We got to play with the students--the counted to 10 in english and then said the english ABCs--very impressive for 2nd grade Thai students. Then we had a brief lunch of Thai fruit and fried rice. (Very sweet and very strange looking--google it sometime). We only got to stay about an hour an then headed back to the office for real work. (I actually have spent the last two days researching and then compiling a report summarizing the tax codes of 6 southeast Asian States--lots of fun.)

This morning was early again: Left by 6:45 to go to the ambassador's house. He and his staff gave a briefing on Thai politics and business. Very interesting and I met lots of business leaders from around Bangkok. Then back to the office.

My last story for now: I had to take the taxi back home by myself today for the first time. It's about a 30-45 minute trip, so I was a bit intimidated. The drivers here do not speak much English--no matter what the guidebooks tell you--so I was operating off a short list of words (turn right, go straight, etc.). Anyway the instructions given to me by a friend were a bit vague, so I ended up not exiting the highway quite properly. I got the driver to turn back around and then we missed the turn for the small access road again. Rather than turning around again, the driver just kicked me out of the taxi. Anyway, I crossed the highway, ran down the highway a few yards (I have no idea why there were no sidewalks or even greenery), and then ran down the access road, all in a suit, and made it to the right neighborhood. I was sticky and scared out of my mind (cars here drive FAST), but I made it--and entertained the locals sitting under the mix master who were watching me.

All in all, a very good couple of days. I do like hearing from people, so feel free to leave a comment. You can always use anonymous comment and just sign it at the end...at least you could back when I was always bothering Ellen. Best wishes to all, Mike.