PING PONG

May this day live on in my memory for the rest of my time here. Today started at 2am, after waking up and immediately becoming best friends with my jet lag, I decided it was a perfect time to go for a walk and see whats going on around me, i'm glad I did as it allowed me to get  used to the surrounding area and understand where exactly it is i am, which i'm still pondering today.  Bangkok has truly captivated me all the ways I hoped it would, I'm not doubtful that I am alone in that. It really is one of the worlds greatest sin cities ( sorry dad ). You don't walk down many streets where the bud is not pungent, you wont last long if you are not LGBT friendly and don't even think about coming through if you are a clean freak. Underneath the grand temples, smiling Pa's (aunties) and bustling markets, you'll find hazy weed cafes, intense sex tourism and more lady boys than you can count on 1000 hands. 

Homosexuality and third gender has been documented in Thailand since the ayutthaya period (1351- 1767) and is portrayed in many temple murals, which brings about an array of questions about the deeper  roots of the community in Thailand.

After grabbing a drink with some fellow travellers, I headed back and tried to sleep at 7am, my eyes shut but my mind was racing, so I got up and continued floating around enjoying the new sights and sounds until I was ready to head back to my hostel and socialize.  I had lunch with a lovely young man from Canada, which led us to spontaneous idea of walking through Bangkok for a minimum of 5 hours, we have the energy, we have the youth, why not? Walking is after the all the most cost effective way to see things and stop when you need to. So after gathering our chosen ones for the afternoon, we hit the road and I hoped I would't faint from sleep deprivation. We started by stumbling across a beautiful, smaller temple, and as  someone who hadn't seen such an intricate temple before, and had no idea just how stunning they would be, I was in total shock for a few minutes. They ooze red, green and golden shades and are very pleasing to the eye, also the peace I felt inside the temple was unreal, they truly are sacred places. Around you you'll fine different statues of the gods representing Buddhism and Hinduism which I am curious to learn abit more about. You will also  likely see a monk gliding past you in beautiful orange cloth garments and if you're  lucky enough, hear them sing their prayers which matched the beautiful sounds of the Quran being read in mosques.

I am eager to visit some more temples outside of Bangkok.  I especially like the swirly bits on the outside that are usually on the roofs, I'll add a picture below. We continued walking took in the sights of people just living day to day, we stopped by Chinatown, where I picked up an adapter and if I wanted to, could've picked quite literally anything I ever needed. What confused us was how all the shops are selling exactly the same thing and still making money. If anyone has the answer please do let me know. 

Around 4 hours into our walk, we stopped by a night market to try some food, I homed in on the grilled seafood served on sticks, and chucked an Okra in there for good measure. When the cook asked if I wanted 'spicy' I automatically said yes as I thought I was a spice queen, little did I know this stuff would set my mouth on fire as if I'd just come face to face with Hades.The okra didn't help either as it was bitter and I don't think I'll be eating it again anytime soon. I was too embarrassed to say anything for the first 5 minutes so I just carried on but eventually had to ask them to change it to an un spiced squid because lord have mercy that was worse than a Carolina reaper. So while I'm trying to process the flames running through my head, there is 5 salesmen surrounding us pushing us to wards the seemingly popular ping pong show, I think the fact I felt I was on fire made me unable to make a decision so I went ahead and said yes to it. i'm just going to leave that there as I'd prefer not to relive that experience. 

After this, the group split as we were all traumatised and I continued my walk with a lovely gentleman from Norway, who spent 9 months in Europe as a homeless man to get a better understanding of how the system manages homelessness. He is a street photographer and his work is truly stunning,  his name is Mr shady and he truly has a way of connecting with people most can't even get close to. What I've gathered so far is that people do travel for all kinds of reasons, we are supposed to, there is escapism, need for movement and change ( boredom), inspiration, freedom, integration but most of all I think it is the intense desire to see the beauty of this planet, there truly is so much of it, the world is small yet infinite, there is endless things to explore if you just open your eyes and look. I have had a magnificent day being active and taking it all in, my next stop will be Chiang mai, to get there I will take the overnight bus for 10 hours and then I am being picked up and jumping in the back of a pick up truck to Pai, a hippie spot in the mountains. 

Thailand is incredible, the energy here is alive, its trans formative, I am so excited for the rest of the journey and will write here about Pai.