Spoons: not just for soup anymore.

A few things I have learned about Thailand in the last couple of days:

1. Always tell your taxi driver to put his meter on before leaving.
2. Always bring kleenex into washrooms. And if going into a Turkish (aka: squatter) toilet, make sure your sense of balance is working that day.
3. Spoons: not just for soup anymore. Thais use a spoon like we use a fork. Actually, quite efficient.
4. Never travel by taxi at 3pm in the afternoon. BTS is much quicker, unless you're supremely bored and like watching rush-hour traffic.
5. Tuk tuks are rip-offs, period.
6. There are Starbucks in strategic places across town - for the coffee-addict amongst us, it is best to find these places asap otherwise you will definitely regret drinking Thai coffee.
7. Carnation milk can top any food group, from sticky rice to ice cream to coffee to mango.
8. Riding for 5 hours in a Thai taxi will make you very, VERY car sick.

The last 2 days have been a melange of experiences. I am getting used to Bangkok - I discovered that I've learned the ropes when the cab driver who took me back from the Suan Lam Night Bazaar to the Ambassador Hotel tonight didn't put on his meter right away and decided that he wanted to bargain for a fare. No way man! He wanted 80 baht, a ridiculous amount for the distance of travel. I think he was either (1) impressed or (2) pissed when I insisted on the meter. Turns out the trip was 50 baht. Not a big difference if you do the conversion, but it was the principlet that counted - the "don't screw over a farang" principle!

Yesterday, I met up with Spencer, the German who runs the sak-yant.com website, who is an expert in sak yant and Buddhism in general. He met me on Khao San Road as he was willing to take me out to his Ajarn, the monk Hlwong Pi Pant. He used to be at Wat Bang Pra, but now has his own Wat, Wat Kho Phoon [Wat of the Concrete Cow (seriously!!)] way out in Ang Thong province, north of Ayutthya. I actually feel very privileged as I am the first farang that Spencer has taken out there in a long time, and I am most likely the last female to receive a sak yant from H.P Pant - there are workings afoot to restrict monks from tattooing females.

We took a cab out to Ang Thong, but took the long way around - via country roads rather than the main freeway. It was actually a great trip - I wouldn't have seen this scenary otherwise. Being out of Bangkok and in the countryside was a treat - rice field far and wide, local farmers in the fields or in the creeks/rivers harvesting crops and fishing, water buffalo roaming the roads, etc. It was nice to see something other than concrete. However, the taxi ride was not the most enjoyable experience for me! I think jet lag finally caught up with me and I was extremely car sick for the entire 2.5 hour ride out there. I had to get Spencer to tell the driver to pull over into a gas station so I could get some fresh air, some water and juice, and convince myself that I wasn't going to hurl all over the back seat! I've never been car sick in my life, so the only thing I can attribute this to was jet lag and the fumes along the roads.

We finally made it to Ang Thong after minor delays and being misplaced in random fields. Wat Kho Phoon is a collection of run-down buildings near a small village school. H.P. Pant has moved from Wat Bang Pra to restore this Wat - rebuilding the monestary and temple, and helping the near by school. Definitely a worthwhile endeavor and worth contributing to.

H.P. Pant himself is the first monk I have had direct contact with for any length of time, and it was a great experience. When we arrived, he was in his main office area with a number of his young (13-18 year old) disciples. And 2 minature poodles and one cat! It was a friendly, comforting environment to be in. H.P. Pant is a smiling, happy man with a great sense of humor. And given the language barrier between us, this was actually not a difficult thing to figure out!! He seems to very much enjoy his position (his job?) and the people who were there. He laughed and joked with me throughout my stay. When he was asking me what yant I wanted, and I said a Hanuman for protection and strength of self, he showed me the one he would do, but then kept joking and showing me a baby Hanuman - "Baby monkey! Baby monkey!!".

The yant I got is right below the gao yord by Ajarn Kaew. And it hurt worse, and took amost an hour to do. Because I'm a female, he had to do the work through a sheet while Spencer and 2 other of the boys held my back and shoulder. He kept asking "Ok?" to which I'd reply yes, and he'd respond "Cool, cool!!". Fuck no, not cool! It hurt like hell!! But it's very detailed and beautiful. At the end of it, he blessed the yant with the mantra, and gave me an original amulet from Wat Bang Pra (they aren't being made anymore). He told me I am "strong like a bull", which I think is a compliment? We spent a bit more time at the Wat, talking and joking, then had to leave as our taxi driver was waiting outside for us. He drove us to the wat, waited 2.5 hours, then drove us back to Bangkok. All for 1500 baht!

Actually, the cab ride was an experience in itself. The driver went looking for a fighting rooster while we were with H.P. Pant, so we had a long discussion on the way back to Bangkok about cock fighting. Here in the North, the roosters don't fight to the death. One basically turns "chicken" and tries to run off when it can't take the fight any longer. In the south, they do fight to the death. I had asked the driver to get me a spur if he found one, but since they don't kill each other here, they don't use spurs.

Back in Bangkok, I had the taxi and Spencer drop me off at Khao San Road so I could get a bit of fresh air and walk to the hotel. I was still feeling like crap from the return car ride (1 hour on th freeway, but still nauseous the entire way!), so stopped to get some food. I was back at the hotel, in bed, by 9pm! Merry Christmas!

I finally got a good night's sleep last night (the night before was horrible and my shoulder was aching something fierce), so this morning I felt ready to tackle the streets of Bangkok again. I decided on a long walk, mainly to get to the Monks' Bowl Village north of China Town, and then with thoughts of getting to the river (never made it there). I wound up stopping at a lapidary shop and looking at stones and rings. I broke down and bought a small (0.37 carat) ruby in silver in a ring. It's not a perfect stone (for 2000 baht, it couldn't be!), but it's kinda cute, and it is my birthstone. The salesman dealt with me as a regular customer initially, but before long came to realize I knew more than a normal person. Asking to see the stone in a microscope or a hand lens might have tipped him off! And showing him the flaws in a few of the other stones I didn't buy might have done that too... But it is a real ruby, and isn't fractured but has an inclusion or two, which I think is what gives it character.

The monk's bowl village was really neat. They make bowls for alms out of steel and copper in the traditional way - 8 separate pieces (representing the 8 ways of the Buddha) are hammered together, welded with copper wire, and then hammered and polished. There are 6 separate steps in the process, all done by hand. It takes 5 days to make one bowl and there are only 5-6 familes in the "village" doing the craft. Fascinating actually. The bowls are beautiful.

Ok, the minature poodle in this internet cafe just pee'd on the floor beside me!

After an unsuccessful attempt at getting a taxi to the Ambassador Hotel, I wound up hopping the BTS (skytrain) in rush hour traffic. I think I like the Baan Chantra in Banglamphu better, although it was more expensive. This is a big hotel in a business neighbourhood. Baan Chantra was quaint, quiet and in the old part of Bangkok. But being here will give me a chance to explore this side of the city.

I went for supper on Soi 38 (very spicey, amazing tasting squid and shrimp on rice!), and then headed off to the Suan Lam night bazaar at Lumphini station. What a freakin' crazy place!! Wow! It was so awesome!! Anything and everything you wanted to buy, eat or drink, and it was there! It's HUGE. I was totally lost at one point - had no idea where the exit might be! Actually, they had many handicrafts and art that I have yet seen in other stores/markets, which was a nice change from the knock-off crap. I picked up a really cool hand-made leather/paint Hanuman print to frame. In one section, you can buy coupons and then buy food and beer. Given that they were having some sort of German beerfest, I was able to get a dunkel wheat beer! No Beer Chang! And the music was something. Young Thais screaming English pop songs on stage. I say screaming as they weren't really singing. I think they were trying to sing (?) but their interpretations of songs by the likes of AC/DC were hilarious! Beer-induced I would think. But highly amusing!

Tomorrow I head to Ayutthya and Aranyik to visit the old city and buy daab. How I will get these things home, I have no idea. Actually, I'm having that problem in general - I keep seeing beautiful art and teak that I would like to buy, but how do you ship a 4 foot long teak lintel, or 3 foot high Buddha statue home?!

That's all for today folks. It's 1am and I have to be up early! Chok dee!