Bangkok

I spent a couple more days in Bangkok. I visited Wat Arun an old temple where the mosaic style decor is made from broken up China
plates. It is called the Temple of the Dawn and makes an interesting tall silhouette as you travel down the river on a busy bus boat. I
returned to Wat Po for a Thai massage that really hurt, but felt good afterwards. It was certainly deep! I also found a few art galleries
in Silom road and enjoyed seeing the variety of different pictures there.

Finding which was really Khao San Road after my morning trip to the floating market, I went wandering there on Thursday evening. I saw some nice pastel pictures (which I returned to buy the next evening) and chatted with the really cute (as in sweet/ET cute) artist who was selling them by the side of the road. It was fun talking to someone about their work even in his limited (though good) English. I was then appraoched by a guy who was also travelling alone and wanted to have a drink. I went along for half an hour but left the club fairly soon as he was a bit of a jerk and only really about one thing, which he definitely wasn't about to be getting from me!!

The next night I met some much nicer people. I was waiting on Silom Road for a number 15 bus to Banglumphu and a middle aged German lady came to wait too. We got chatting and had dinner together and then walked Khao San. We found out we were in the same guest house and after we got back I went to my room. I was sent a cockroach (as a sign I reckon in hindsight), that had to be big enough to get me to move. It was. It was over two inches in body and more in feelers and I just didn't fancy it running over my head during the night, so I went out to the landing to get a chair and met some lovely people (after first going back and trapping my cockroach with a cut bottle and a plastic bag). Devon is from Canada and Doris from Germany. We sat chatting for a while and were then joined by Lars (German too) and later briefly by Alex (Canadian). I sat up chatting with Doris and Lars until about 4am. We had a lazy day the next day literally wandering Khao San after checking out and then all got the night train down to Surat Thani. We had a fun trip down with much laughter and hilarity and three bottles of Thai whiskey.

We parted our ways and I waited with the Gills and Marian (who I had also travelled down on the train with) for mum and dad and Priscilla to arrive. They were not too much longer.

I had a good few days in Bangkok. I was relaxed and not trying to do too much, but it was interesting all the time. It is a big modern
city with sky scrapers, a plethora of big shops and a 7eleven on every street. Yet it maintains a distinctly Asian and Thai feel
about it. The people are friendlier than in many large cities and I was always helped by someone when asking for directions, even when they couldn't really understand me. The thing that stands out the most about Bangkok that distinguishes it from other places is the amount of food and number of places to eat on the street. Thais appear always to be eating and yet on the whole remain petite and slim. I read that this is cause though they appear to eat all the time, it is what their bodies say they need and it is not huge
amounts. Never the less, Bangkok is a city of constant food smells and interesting looking dishes in abundance.

Wednesday in Bangkok

A relaxed morning. I painted a little. I feel better when I do some art, even when the art is nothing special. I also got a listing of current exhibitions today, so I intend to go and check out a couple galleries over the next couple of days.

I went to the National Museum today. There is some very interesting stuff there. It was hot though and my water was in my bag at the counter with the 'bag man'. I ended up tired and slightly woozy. I sat to have a drink on the steps by the museum shop and met Angie. An American girl. We chatted and went and had a facial (150 baht) and then I had a massage while she had a foot massage (as she had already had a massage earlier). A real treat ourselves day. I had some nice Tom Yam soup for dinner while she had a coffee shake before heading to get her train to Chiang Mai.

I intend to have a reasonably early night as I am getting up to go to the floating market in the morning.

I have been having thoughts today about how nice it would be to open a retreat / meditation / massage and therapies house (place). Christian based with more connection with the world, our bodies, our spirits ... It's all this massage!

A wander to the river was the right thing to do. I got my bearings a little more, sat and watched the river for a while and then got a boat down to the Wat Po (old temple) where reclines a 45 metre Buddha! It was impressive but not particularly pretty. The buildings in the grounds were though and I sat and sketched a little. Yes I actually did a little art! It felt good to take the time to do some! I then went and had a 45 min reflexology foot massage in the Thai Massage School in the grounds. It was a nice wooden building and was full of people having massaages. They have a queuing system! The masseurs are mostly female and they all wear bright yellow shirts. My feet and calves still feel good. I think I will continue to eat cheaply and enjoy the massages!

I got directions from one of the masseurs and found the bus and made my way to the 'Major' Cinema. I went to see The LOrd of the Rings : The Two Towers which I have seen advertised everywhere. However I made it there to find out that it starts on the 25th. Oh well. I then found my way back. It wasn't too complicated but it still feels good on your first day in a new city to navigate the buses. I had a lovely walk along the river front. Night lights and water are such a good combination. Actually water and any light are a good combination really!

This place is full of travellers. I haven't really got chatting to anyone properly yet. I met a guy who advised me to have the massage at Wat Po and we chatted briefly - then I got my massage. However I have overhead a few conversations. The world is full of weird and wonderful people who all have their own ideas and philosophies. Travellers are a right mixture but there also seem to be a particular type of person too. The man I am specifically referring to was loud, drinking beer and sharing his views on life with the lady who had sat down at the next table. Her male friend didn't seem to enamoured with the whole conversation!!

Bangkok

Last night I had the surreal experience of arriving in Don Muan airport and while waiting to pass through immigration realised that I was listening to English Christmas songs over the airport sound system. It seemed somewhat incongruous with the setting.

It is a lot warmer here than in Kathmandu. From gas fires and hot water bottles to fans at night. Things are often illuminated by comparison and last night I realised how quiet Kathmandu is at night. The streets empty early and from my bed I can hear dogs barking and the mumbled sounds of nighttime. However in Bangkok the noise and traffic never stopped all night. It may have eased off in the very wee hours of the morning but it was never quiet. Having got used to the quiet of Kathmandu nights I found it quite hard to sleep last night and was awake at regular intervals listening to the rushing cars on the large road not too far away. The contrast of cities and countries not at war, though Kathmandu would not be any where near like Bangkok anyway!

I have had a relaxing morning sitting people watching while having a late breakfast. This is a very touristy area, but an interesting place to people watch for a while! I think I will now head off and look for the river!

By the way that Massage last night was lovely!

THAILAND

Well I have arrived in Bangkok. All is well so far. I have found somewhere to stay for 290 baht a night (it's a double bed but as a single you just have to pay). A wee man found me off the bus and took me there. It is clean and seems fine. It is 'cosy', has a fan and an ensuite that has a toilet, sink and shower head and you can just about turn around in it. I have come out to explore a wee bit and try to get my bearings a little. Tomorrow will be more adventurous (possibly) though my main goal is to get things sorted for my Vietnam visa.

Sitting in the airport in Kathmandu and then on the bus into Bangkok I was thinking about what I was feeling - an awareness of being fine and yet also underneath recognising that faint but slightly discernible fear. Just the unknown and being alone to face it I guess. It is also good not to succumb to the possibility of panic and fell that all will be okay and we are able to just keep going and see what will happen. A good lesson in living in the now and not the what if and when.....

It is 10pm here and I think I may just go and have a massage before bed. A good way to start my time in Thailand I think!!

It is farewell to Nepal for now. I leave for the airport in half an hour. It is with sadness that I have had to say goodbye to a lot of great people that I have met since I came here. I have especially enjoyed the young people I have taught and hung out with. It has been a good four months. I have also been really touched by the goodbyes. Some lovely cards and really nice things said to me. I leave encouraged and very built up. I will return I'm pretty sure. When? Who knows, but we shall see.

On now to Thailand. I am looking forward to the next stage of the journey too, and to relaxing for a few days on the beach over Christmas!

"Each thought, each action in the sunlight of awareness, becomes sacred"
Tchich Nhat Nanh

"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle".
Albert Einstein

"Self-knowledge has no end - you don't come to an achievement, you don't come to a conclusion. It is an endless river"
Krishnamurti

" If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change".
Buddha

"For the kingdom of God is within you"
Jesus

A sea of black haired heads lurching in a swell of movement. The crowd surged forward and linked arms were crushed as we tried to stay together in a train of friends. The heat of strange bodies uncomfortably close, heightening the odour of too many warm bodies in a confined street and mingling with the fumes of cheap alcohol. We were caught in the middle of the crowd and I urged the others who were getting crushed to try and stick their elbows out to give themselves space to breathe. Easier said than done. A sense of fear arose as images of news headlines of people being crushed to death in a crowd rose in my mind, really comprehensible for the first time. As another surge knocked over a row of parked motorbikes and almost knocked some of us off our feet we decided to force our way through the crowd and past the occasional groping jerk to the side where there was a little bit of a calm in the crowd. We made it, picking each other out mostly by the white arms or faces. Still crushed though able to breath we stood for a few moments before making our way further along the street, away from the thickest crush and the flailing sticks of riot police trying to control the crowd. We found the next gate to the stadium a little calmer and with a little manouvering managed to get ourselves in through the gate. Tenzing had lost both his shoes and Brad had had his wallet nicked. I had gone down with the others to try and buy a ticket for the 1974AD concert but there was no sign of tickets being sold and I ended up sweeping through the gate with the rest of them. In for free. Apparently this was Nepal's biggest rock concert ever and 16-20,000 people were expected. It was fairly sold out certainly. We were up in the stands and the sound system while large was not adequate for an open air stadium, so what I actually heard of them was good.

Rhys and Andy joined the first lot of the crowd who jumped over the barriers and dropped down the 10ft drop onto the track of the stadium to join the crowd in the middle. We proceeded to be entertained by the many who followed. The poor police had no chance against the many who were jumping. It would stop for a while and then more would make a run for it; a victory dash across the track and into the crowd in the middle. A couple of the policemen even laughed at it at one point, though they had to try and deter people. When the serious riot police were brought in things calmed down for a while, though others made a break for it round the far side. While they were deterred with someone else a few more would run past their backs. Kathryn and I decided we would try and go in, but the more sedate way - through the main gate. We made it, though one police man did not want us to go through, and discovered to our amusement that we were actually meant to be inside with the RS100 tickets all along. We had been sitting in the Rs50 stands. We let the others know however as it was almost over they didn't manage to get in. It was a fun experience, but some idiots managed to spoil it a bit by breaking chairs and then throwing some at the band. ????!! It ended earlier than the band had planned, or so I was told today by a friend who knows them. A learning experience for Nepal and their biggest concert. On our way out of the stadium Tenzing had a little hunt and found both of his shoes!

x

Friday night was the school's Christmas social. Along with the social committee I (as a teacher) was responsible for organising it. We had a sit down meal, two girls were waitresses (in very cute black skirt and top with frilly white aprons), a band (four of the senior guys) played live music, we then had a pub quiz (table quiz). Meanwhile everyone was busy buying mocktails (non-alcoholic cocktails) at our 'bar' from our three very capable bartenders. We then had a brief disco (though the person we thought was bringing the music didn't) while a game of giant Dutch Blitz (cards) was going on outside. It seemed like people had fun. We certainly had fun organising it!


It is currently an auspicious season for weddings it would seem. There are lots of wedding bands around, who walk along playing loud trumpets and drums and dressed in red and gold uniforms. There are also lots of houses decked out in big fairy lights. Last night from our house amidst the normal glow of night time lights there was one house that almost seemed to hover in the darkness cause it was absolutely covered in long coloured strings of lights that wrapped it up like a glowing present. It was very cheerful looking.

random thoughts that would have been better entered on a number of days, instead they've all gathered up and are jostling in my head:

A man sat under a tree by the side of the polluted ring road around Kathmandu. He had a low table in front of him that looked like a pice of living room furniture and on it was a handwritten sign saying 'local call' and in the middle a single cream push button telephone. Public telephone in Nepal.


I did the Myers Briggs Personality Test last week. For those of you interested and in the know I seem to be an ENFP! It has been kind of interesting. I am now reading a book on the Enneagram and trying to figure out what personality type I am. It is very interesting and is used a lot by Spiritual Directors from many different faiths. I am interested to see how it can help motivate spiritual growth.


I was to go rafting and it just doesn't seem to be happening. The dates aren't working and I can't get six people to commit, because then we could do our own trip. All of the maybes are turning out to be, 'no' or 'oh sorry's. I would still like to go before I leave but may just need to go some other time. It seems a shame not to go while I'm in Nepal but we'll see.


It is now December and Christmas stuff is getting going!! The school Christmas social is this Friday and I am helping the young people to organise it. Got a bit to do with regards to that actually. We are having a meal, live music (3 of the older guys), non-alcoholic bar, table ('pub') quiz, disco and a giant game of Dutch Blitz (a card game for those of you who haven't had the pleasure of playing in the game).


Went shopping yesterday for some Christmas presents. I was doing well and only getting stuff for others until the last shop where I went a bit nuts and got two cushion covers (planned) and two saris (not planned but had wanted one). They are very beautiful - older and very embroidered. Mum and dad really liked them and are going to buy them for my Christmas present, so it all worked out very well!!


Two weeks today until I leave. I have a lot to do here, but am also wanting to start thinking about what next! I need to pay for my ticket and I'm just thinking now I actually need to think of where I want to stay in Bangkok!!


I have a meeting - the bell has gone. Better go!!