Even from the air, there was something very different about Bangkok. Green seas of forest and grass, and rice paddies in every direction met my eager gaze. Life in the desert has left within me a deep huger for verdant mountains and swollen streams that this two-week training course in Thailand would surely satisfy.
And satisfy it did. Seafood and rice noodles in a red curry and coconut milk soup...for a buck? Yes, life was good. I took full advantage of the project design and management course, but also eagerly abandoned the luxury hotel for visits to beautiful temples, enormous outdoor markets, or even the aforementioned soup. One evening after visiting a Buddhist shrine in the Ancient capital city dating back to 1357, colleagues and I had the most phenomenal Thai food on a boat docked along the surging river (this was during the worst flooding in 55 years).
Aside from the memories of good shopping and excellent food, I left most impressed by three things about Thailand and the Thai people. First, they are exceptionally devout. There are Buddhist temples upon temples, especially outside the city. On our drive to tour the Ancient Capital, Ayutthaya, we passed one beautiful temple complex after another. Each included a rectangular stone wall enclosing a stone patio. At the center would be a large stupa or temple containg a principal statue of Buddha and many smaller representations throughout. Even in the rain folks would pour into the temple to make offerings of incense, freshly-cut garlands, lotus flowers, and charity. Sadly, the temples outside the city were mostly under water due to the historic flooding, but the many temples and shrines within Bangkok were quire busy.
Another observation is that the Thai people deeply rever their king. I did not encounter a single city block that lacked a poster, a shrine, or a photo of the King or Queen. Even before "The King and I" play and movie popularized the Thai monarchy, foreign visitors to Thialnd have been impressed by the stong and positive feeling that the Thai people have for the royal family. The present king, unfortunately, is frail and ill, and as a result the Thai people are quite pained.
But as with many top tourist destinations, what strikes one most in Bangkok is the people. Everywhere one goes one is greeted with a smile, a slight bow with palms toughing (as in prayer), and a greeting of "sawadeecup!" Their warmth was infectious, and their hospitality was greatly disarming. Two weeks among these people is hardly enough time to make such sweeping generalizations about a kingdom and a people. But it was long enough to remind me how dry is my desert.
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