Day I - The most sought after places in the Far East

In continuation of my travel epic, the story goes on somewhat like this... In Bangkok, within the deep siesta scene, I slowly evoked that I am not here to slumber, but wander… I pulled off the sheets that sheltered me through this amazing journey of relaxation and rejuvenation (after all that commotion and chaos, the night before) and with a mood so high, I moved my way towards a refreshing shower…

As soon as I recovered from the stoned world of dreams and trips, (thanks to the hot water tub!), I changed to my casuals, on my sweetheart’s orders and before it was too late, we rushed out for a quick lunch with the free coupons that were given to us.

The lunch, to be frank, was awful. I mean, who in the world would eat anything like that? There was no presentation style, everything was clustered in one plate and no one ever knew what the smelly stuff they were eating was and even worse, to add to all these existing woes, mostly the food was non-veg and being a veggie, I wholeheartedly empathized with those veggie souls who would encounter this kind of a situation in an unknown land.

But later, thanks to the recent concept of globalization and the monopoly of corporate giants, back in the city, I was able to find everything from a Veg. Club sandwich to a Tofu Pizza (As those guys have no clue, as to what is ‘Paneer’!) So after this quick, not-so-impressive lunch, we hired a cabbie for the rest of the day for the 2-day trip in Bangkok, to not go waste. In a Camry, groomed up just like a taxi, we set off to our first destination in Thailand.

Venue: Bangkok Date: 19.01.2008 Time: 02:00 p.m. Feeling: Excited

Now here we had our very own cabby ‘Suntong’, or however it was pronounced (as all names out there sounded the same to me), who became a close buddy of my hubby in these, two days’ time. During our travel to various places, Suntong also served as the local bi-lingual translator teaching us a little bit of Thai (proper Thai that he knew!) taking minimal assistance from his half-baked knowledge of broken English.

Further, without hurting the ego of our cabbie, we left to him the decision of detailing the noon and night itinerary. Though I had my own list of places to visit, the number of which was humongous and the task practically not that feasible, I kept mum and let my sweetie and the cabbie do all the talking. Instead of blabbering, I simply pitched in whenever Suntong would jump up with enthusiasm and teach us a word or two in Thai. For example, ‘Sawatdee’ stands for Hello, Goodbye, Good morning, and Good evening. ‘Sawatdee’ is basically used for wishing someone a good fortune or blessing. However, like in many other languages, the suffix of this word differs based on the genders for which it is used.

For gentlemen, it is ‘Sawatdeekha’ and for ladies, ‘Sawatdeekhrap’. It is a pretty confusing language. If the same thing is said at the end of the conversation or for saying ‘Thanks’ or something, then it is pronounced as ‘Sabaaydeekhrap’. ‘Khapumkhaa’ is for Thank You. Once again, based on the gender, this word may change. Hmm. Now check this out! In their language, at times, the same word is used throughout a sentence, but of course in varying frequencies—ranging from low to high. If you want to ask someone ‘Is it new?’, then in Thai you need to ask ‘mai (in low frequency) mai (in high poetic frequency)? LOL!!

I can just go on talking about their language. But my personal travelogue isn’t just about that. So, in between all these language classes, I and my hubby were also seriously clicking some exotic, ethereal real-life shots of the narrow city lanes in Bangkok. Bangkok, as it goes by its name and fame, is a city which never sleeps and which never wakes up either. Why I say this is because the Thai people, how much ever broad-minded and heart-warming they are by personality and no matter how far they lead many other nations in terms of technology, lifestyle and branding, as an outsider, you will always sense a standstill way of life.

People are not very keen or do not take an effort to expose themselves to new things and lines of thought. That, at times, can be a bit surprising and also annoying. If a nation wants to extend its horizons of tourism and globalization, it is imperative that initiatives to enhance the general public’s awareness about the customs and practices of people from various regions should be definitely on. (Well, for the money part, they all are quite well-equipped!) So all things apart, our trip was on! And it continues...