DAY 1 @ Bangkok continues....

Venue: Bangkok Date: 19.01.2008 Time: 02:30 p.m. Feeling: Inquisitive 

Amidst all that chitter-chatter with the cabbie and clicking off to the tunes of those realistic landscapes, city lights, smiling faces and other pictures that gave a natural geographic feel, we lost track of time, and much to our dismay we realized that we had travelled much away from our hotel to the Wat Traimit or the Temple of the Golden Buddha (An idol 3mts high and weighs 5.5 tons..) which is located next door to the palatial grounds, in the heart of Bangkok near china town.

 

'Wat’ means ‘temple’ in Thai. Unfortunately, the royals chose to grace the place with a visit on the same day, which meant that it was close to the public for the day. The only saving grace was that we could click away to our heart’s content, which meant some fantabulous pictures of the dazzling palace.

 

Suntong dropped us right in front of the gates and moved forth to find an impressive spot in the parking lot so that he could play the role of a guide inside the temple. Till he arrived, we strolled through the road side stalls and eatery joints, trying to figure out the kind of food they sold. My eyes also caught the mini souvenirs section but I wasn’t smart enough to get hold of my hubby’s wallet accountable! ;) But money? That was not going to stop me from shopping. So without much of a delay, I got my very own first memoir from the grounds of Wat Traimit. A small little Buddha and a bottle of water! LOL :) As soon as I entered the temple I had an eerie feeling, something which reminded (The ‘déjà vu’ feel of already visiting this place) me of my hometown. One of the most famous temples at our place is the Guruvayoor temple where before we enter the temple, we are routed to a shack that stows our slippers.

The same thing happened here and not just that but every bit of the flow of people entering the temple, stacking the slippers with a token base, the continuous addressing of people to take care of their belongings, the shops, the silence, the idols all reminded me of my hometown. That was so nostalgic! (Even the entrance fee to the temple, which gave the feel of a museum!!) This place was filled with idols of Buddha. Quite surprising, that a young prince, who had attained the path to salvation in the Northern regions of India had his messiahs to spread his teachings to the most parts of the eastern world. My hubby was on a spree of taking photographs. He basically enjoys pictures that speak a thousand words and those which emit a certain aura of realism than mundane pictures. I on the other hand enjoy when people smile as I click.

 

So I entered this sacred place, and as I bowed, I could see the tourists clicking away to glory. I mean, I totally understand all this could be a lifetime experience for many, so joining them I and my hubby too enjoyed the marathon of clicking pictures. In between, I took a little while to pray and touch the feet of the Golden Buddha.  The official name of this idol is ‘Phra Buddha Mahasuwan Patimakorn or Phra Sukhothai Traimitr’. I even got the chance to light a fragrant ‘agarbathi’ next to the feet of the idol. It was such a nice feeling. Apart from the main Buddha, there were also other miniature idols of Buddha in this temple.

 

Though they all look the same, as far as myth goes, it seems that each of these idols actually played a part and have a different role in the epics of mythological tales. There is a hidden story behind this temple. This idol was completely covered in stucco during the 18th century just to protect it from the Burmese. But during a transfer, it slipped and broke to reveal that it was actually made in gold.

 

This place was an accurate impression of perfect beauty met with standstill time and experience. It was less of a place for worship and more, a place for faith. In this country, male religious followers are believed to spend a particular phase in their life as a monk. But the fact remains that Thai temples are more than any holy monastery, a paradise to enjoy silence. Such a way of life actually controls the manner in which a person lives, his culture, education or his very own lifestyle. After strolling in front of the temple gates for a while, without wasting a minute, we drove to yet another sacred ground. This time, it was the Wat Pho or Wat Phrachetuphon Wimonmangkhalaram Rajaworamahavihara which is Bangkok's largest temple. Being a Keralite myself, this time, the Buddha’s idol reminded me of the Anandha Padmnabhan temple in Trivandrum.

The only difference is that there I could see Lord Vishnu and here it was another avatar of the same Lord. This, 45 mts long, statue was basically a giant reclining Buddha. It seems this is where Buddha entered attained Nirvana. Clicking a snap that covers the entire statue is next to impossible. So we toured around the statue to get a feel of this amazing structure. The statue’s feet alone can reflect 108 images of Buddha’s impressions. The slanting look of Buddha brings you to serenity. It is just amazing. A great spot for a good photograph!

 











Apart from this statue, this campus was engulfed with a legendary stretch of high and low tombs sculptured in different artistic gauges. We had fun simply touring these tombs as this entire ground was some sort of a crystal maze for us aliens. My hubby was busy peaking into other cameras that went on clicking around where as I was more interested to find out a bit more about this place.

 





Till date, numerous monks dwell there is what our guide said. This museum-cum-temple-cum-touring peak shelters around 394 statues of Buddha, a Bodhi tree and many other deity idols within its well-fenced compound. We even got a good look of the various tombs shining exotically in the spread of the dusk strokes. Before we walked our way to the parking lot, we loitered by the small time souvenir shop available within the vicinity of this temple where the salesgirl lured us to the best of buying something. But we simply surfed through the showcases of this shop and rushed to where our cabbie was waiting for us, trusted and tired. Much tired, gulping down all the water I had and sweating it all out along these toiling treks, we headed to the next destination. Once again, another temple! :)

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...