Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Priceless moments from Thailand trip

Not in any particular order...

1. Witnessing the devotion of Thais in worshiping their God, with statutes of Buddhas in the temples, shopping centres, hotels and homes; and realising that these people have a spiritual hunger that needs to be filled.
2. Experiencing the chaos on the roads, whether on roads in Bangkok or on highways in the countryside, where you can only overtaking by going onto oncoming traffic and where lanes and lines on the roads mean nothing at all and traffic rules are not followed in any way or form.
3. Having every inch of my body felt by a masseur during a body massage at a spa.
4. Enjoying the elephants performing at an elephant camp near Chiang Mai where they were able to play soccer and paint pictures, and at the same time, wondering how much sufferings these animals have endured for them to be trained in this way.
5. Witnessing the poor people of Myanmar (Burma) at the town of Mae Sot on the border of Myanmar and Thailand, and watching as a man took our left over foods from our table and placed them in a plastic bag for him to feed the family.
6. Worrying about malaria from mosquitoes, especially at Mae Sot, and spraying my body with insect repellent, only to realise that the mossies have bitten me in areas where I didn't spray any repellent, such as my nose and parts of my face and neck.
7. Seeing the CCTV cast and crew at our hotel in Chiang Mai and Sukothai where they were making a documentary about travels around the world.
8. Having a fantastic (and pricey) buffet lunch at Sukothai Hotel in Bangkok for Chinese New Year, and seeing Hong Kong celebrities dining at the same venue at the same time.
9. Seeing historical ruins in the country towns of Ayutthaya and Si Satchanalai Historical Park.
10. Going to the wonderful night bazaar in Chiang Mai.
11. Experiencing the modern world of Bangkok - new shopping complexes and the Skytrain.
12. Going to a hot springs near Chiang Mai, and realising that there were other insects in the same tub with me, then jumping out in fright and nearly slipped and fell over on the hard rocky floor.
13. Eating eggs boiled from hot springs.
14. Going up to the top of the mountain near Chiang Mai hoping to have a nice view of the city and discovering that Chiang Mai is too polluted with smog to see anything.
15. Being searched when entering into the airport and Central World Shopping Centre at one entrance, while there were no one conducting searches at the other entry points of these venues.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

if u were wondering how much the elephants were suffering, why do u go and watch them perform. by buying tickets to see them perform, arent u suporting the trainin they go thru?>!

and point 3...every inch aye?!....who gave u a massage a guy or girl?

Anonymous said...

What a coincidence.. I had a priceless moment not too long ago too-

Witnessing the devotion of Christians in worshiping their God, with crosses in churches, in their homes and on their necks ; and realising that these people have a spiritual hunger that needs to be filled.