A Few Bangkok Highlights

My thoughts on my week-long visit to Bangkok last January are rather conflicting. The bad is astonishingly bad and the good is really good.  I was both inspired and discouraged in the city.  Let me start with what I actually enjoyed about the Thai capital.

Beautiful People - Yes I can be shallow! But you'll honestsly find the most strikingly good-looking men and women strutting along the streets of Bangkok. It's where international models re-locate once they've landed their big contracts or where model hopefuls show up simply to be discovered.

Never have I seen so many gorgeous people all in one spot. You hear about models getting air-brushed and all during their post-photo shoots; but the ones I saw right before my eyes were absolutely flawless.  I had to stop myself from gawking at all the beautiful people above me!

Friendly Locals - The women I met at the salons, shops, etc. were extrememly nice and easy to get along with. Perhaps there was a tip-incentive behind it, but I didn't mind. I got to have great conversation with some who were happy to share a little insight into their lives. 

Many  of the local women complained about being unable to meet a decent, straight man in town. The ones they did know of were the "cheats." There's a high number of transexuals all through the city, or 'sheboys' as the ladies called them. Straight men were a rare find.



Thai Buddhism - I now understand why many travellers return from their Thailand trips mesmerised with Buddhism. I walked into some temples just for a quick glance but after a few minutes of sitting down, found myself unwanting to leave. There's an immense, almost elevated, sense of peace felt  inside the quiet spaces. It was the collective energy of everyone combined that made the experience so powerful and memorable.



Public Transportation - The train system was quite convenient, simple and inexpensive to use. I was able to switch train lines quite easily - and I'm a person who's known to get lost! The train was also quite clean, efficient and punctual with its schedule.

The only downside to the train system was that I love to munch though, so security would always ask me to discard my food or beverage before hopping on. That was a shame.
I never needed to use the buses but did travel by ferry; that too was extremely easy to navigate.

As for the dislikes, best I save them for another time...

Good-Bye India...

It feels pretty strange to think that I’ll be leaving my Indian home tomorrow morning. It’s been a rough week since I came back from Bangkok. One of my elderly aunts' fractured her arm when she missed a step down the stairs. Then one of my cousin's damaged her back during another fall. And yesterday, my 15 year old niece and her friend collided on their bikes with a public bus. Apart from being shocked, my niece is fine, but her friend died on the spot as he was directly run over. I feel like I'm abandoning everyone here at the wrong time.

This afternoon I saw the aftermath of a stray dog fight in our building parking lot. It was a ghastly sight. The weakest dog was left in a terrible state, he was all bloodied up and I could see some of his insides falling out. Awful.

It’s my last night in Ahmedabad, so I’m trying to just think of the good. The past few days felt a bit like my first few days in this city. I ate out as much as possible at the inexpensive yet delicious restaurants available all over town. The family and neighbours were acting sentimental, as was I. I inhaled as much of the desi air as I possibly could to savour the smell of India and all the memories that came along with it. I’ve grown to become quite comfortable in my environment here, if I do come back, it’ll be so much easier for me to get around.

There’s so much left for me to discover in India, I barely touched the surface, so yes, absolutely, I will be returning. In retrospect, everything that I had hoped to happen here, did. I wanted to find work in print or broadcast and I accomplished that; I also made friends I could connect with; I reconnected with some family and found a great-uncle who has a lot in common with me (no longer making me the odd ball in the family); I gained some weight (okay well that’s not a plus for me but my Amdavadi family’s sure proud of their accomplishment!); and I learned a whole heck of a lot about why people are the way they are here and why my parents are the way they are in Canada.

I’m not sure of what the next step is for this blog as I’m no longer on the “road to Mumbai.” I’ve made some great work contacts here (even just through waiting at line-ups at the airport) and I do see myself coming back for work experience. So let’s wait and see.

I leave for Mumbai tomorrow morning. I'm getting there by taxi as I have a lot of luggage and catching a domestic flight there is hefty - costs have tripled due to India's Republic Day coming up. There’s extensive security everywhere as there’ve been more terrorist threats for the big day. I hope I’ll make it to London safely.

Some of my last few, extremely random thoughts while I'm still in India:
- The “rick” in rickshaw must derive from the term rickety-rackety, or so I believe so
- India’s got the bravest and most patient drivers in the world (drivers are completely zen as they swarm through oncoming traffic, aimlessly walking cattle, stray dogs, goats, etc., all whilst pedestrians and cyclists try to squeeze in some of their own space on the beyond busy roads
- Never have I seen drivers enjoy honking as much as people do here
- The caste system is nowhere near being abolished – I’m sceptical that it’ll even happen in this lifetime
- Prohibition of alcohol consumption in Gujarat - come on, seriously? Seriously?
- Skin-lightening creams are here to stay

Good night Yaar!