A pretty cheesy day. We were doing something almost the whole day, but we didn't do much which was disappointing to realize in the evening. However the evening itself was impressive.
Why so cheesy today? Because most of the time we were doing the typical touristic crap which included sitting in the bus, visiting some locations, going to the bus, waiting for someone who's late (you always have them), driving to another spot, going through with a guide who either spoke just russian or crappy english, which was most of the time close to no english and so on... Unfortunately our schedule was filled with too much "sitting in the bus" and "driving to another location". I kinda felt robbed of time and opportunities to see things (and especially photograph things) when we would just drive by something really interesting like a morning market or china town or just real Bangkok life: i wanted to just get out so many times, but of course i couldn't. Half of the day passed and we've been just to three locations; if i think back to my second trip to Japan it's simply ridiculous, cause i've seen so many places in just one day on foot! I actually took lots of pictures, but it's all postcard-like and just memories, i think i don't have a single good (real) picture yet, which is... annoying. If i look through the pictures, i see i have so many similar things and i'm really thinking i could do a better sightseeing on my own. But at least i get fresh mangoes and pineapples and whatever i want right on the street for less than 1€ and that's great! My mom couldn't miss the opportunity to comment on their working hygiene (taking money with the same hands as doing the cutting), but i couldn't care less. I think i would eat just fruits for a month, if i would stay somewhere in the woods where they grow and wouldn't move until i've eaten all of it!
So the sightseeing took us ages, but in the end we didn't do that much. Lazy lazy lazy... The most absurd thing was taking us to a jewelry factory: we got to see a short movie about gems and could observe people working and then, well of course, purchase some of their goods, which i, well of course, didn't do.
Russian language was going on my nerves today. Even though i understood a bit, it still annoyed me. Besides, sometimes i would just shut off and ignore it, since it doesn't come to me naturally and easily, so i'm sure i missed lots of information. I'm the type who's all the time asking about things, wanting to know, writing stuff down, so this is definitely something different. But then again, if you look to the good side of it: i practice, and indeed i learned some new words, for example today i learned something really important: an elephant. I assume this is an useful word when visiting Thailand, so i always wanna listen if the guide is telling something about them.
After we were done with jewelries i've decided to save the day somehow, or at least try to do that. I didn't really work out, but it was better than going back to hotel. On our way to Royal Palace i saw big china town and just had to go there. We just went to eat something really quick (i had the most delicious soup with fish balls for again less than 1€ - how good is that?) and then took a quick walk. We didn't have much time, because we had to go to a certain show in the evening. We walked through some markets that had all possible smells and all possible things, most of which we couldn't recognize. There's something that always strikes me when being in Asia: so many things are so simple, plain and for us european even old-fashioned! They don't really care what kind of dishes or trays they use or what kind of clothes they wear... Lots of the trays and bowls we saw in the market today i've seen at home, but they were replaced when i was still a kid, because even then they were really old. Well, Asia has its own rhythm.
China town fits in really well here - it's dirty, crowded, loud and full of chaos. I remember china town in Yokohama, which is filled with chinese restaurants, food vendors on the streets, chinese shops etc, but it's still quite neat and clean. Generally, Bangkok itself have an effect of dirtiness and chaos which i dislike a little bit. People look somehow unfriendly on the streets but then give you the perfect smile somewhere behind the counter or in a restaurant.
While walking in the china town we found some flooded streets and some serious preparations. We saw just couple of streets which i barely could describe as flooded, it was rather pretty wet, but it wasn't more than maybe 10cm high, so the flood has really gone away. We took a water taxi today and drove around a little bit in one of the biggest canals. There we could see lots of houses which were still in the water, but it was just at the canal, so it's no surprise they're still flooded.
Our evening was impressive, we went to Siam Niramit for a historical theatre show which was HUGE. They had flames and flying people and even water (!!!) on the stage. And i do know it was real water, because i was lucky enough to get to be on the stage. That's funny actually. It does happen to me often... I got picked out of the crowd by a comedian and had to go on the stage to play with some kinda flutes. Anyway, neither the impressive 1,5h show with water, chickens, goats and elephants, nor the chance to be on the stage was the thing that made my day. It was something simpler and warmer and more personal... I got to feed an elephant with cucumbers and pet it and be so close to it i almost thought i'm in heaven. For them it's so normal to ride an elephant or just have it by their side, but for me it was something magical: the somehow stiff wet trunk, those huge ears and its rough skin - it was just adorable. I'd love to have an elephant, but i think my flat is a little bit too small for that.
Tomorrow i have more elephants to touch and pet, because we're going to an elephant park or farm or whatever they call it, and also we're going to some small hotel in the nature so no internet for me (and no blog for you tomorrow evening). I hope i can enjoy the trip as much as possible despite the russian language and planned schedule. Also, i have one personal issue that really bugs me. I have to think about it all the time and it concerns me a lot, worries and even scares me a bit. So i'm struggling with myself and trying to enjoy. Wait for more posts!
Oh and by the way, introducing Tuktuk (the more open vehicle) and thai taxi in funny pink:
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