First up was a trip to Wat Arun, one of the oldest temples in Bangkok. While most of the temples we had read/seen featured a beautiful Buddha or some kind, this one seemed to be just a collection of temples, beautifully painted and tall. There were steps to climb for the largest temple that seemingly reached the sky. Climbing them was a little tricky (they were steep and very shallow) but the view from the top was way worth it, even for H who is scared of heights.
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| Side temple at Wat Arun |
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| Stairmaster Pros |
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| View of Chao Phraya River from Wat Arun |
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| Sawadee! |
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| Just outside of the Wat |
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| Grand Palace |
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| On the grounds |
The walk was made very interesting by a run in we had with some local scam artists. After crossing a very busy street, H and I were ambushed with a group of about 5 locals. They started off nice, albeit a little pushy, shoving little sandwich bags filled with corn kernels into our palms, even draping a set of tied baggies around our wrists so that we had maybe 5-6 in each hand. Confused, we tried to decline, saying that we were in a hurry, but they kept insisting "Gift for you!", "Happy new year!", "Good luck for you!". An elderly Thai lady then took my hand and led me to a pack of pigeons. She took my hand and made me empty one of the sandwich bags. This caused quite the uproar with the pigeons and before I knew it, there were 50 birds swarming the area near my feet. Slightly amused, I laughed and the lady took this as a sign that it was okay to empty out the other bags. After one or two bags, I decided to go with it and empty them out myself as well, as I thought they were truly were a gift. Once, I was done, the lady then held out a hand and said "now, 150 baht" (roughly $5USD). At this point, I was confused. I glanced at H and saw that he was encountering a similar issue maybe 40 feet away. I looked at the old lady and told her I was going to talk to H about paying. As I started to walk towards H, a younger guy came up to me, firmly planting himself directly in front of me - "You pay her NOW. She separate from him.", gesturing to the man who was now yelling at H. Annoyed, I reached into my bag to take out some money, figuring the baht wasn't worth the hassle. As I opened my bag, the lady tugged at it, trying to see what bills I had. That was my tipping point. I moved swiftly, yanking my bag away from her grasp and said very firmly, "I got it. Stop touching my stuff." I handed her 2 100baht bills (the smallest bills I had). Hearing my voice change, she suddenly became very aggressive. "900 baht" she insisted.
"What? I just gave you 200baht -- you owe me 50 back."
"No. 150baht for one bag. You take a lot of bags. 900 baht."
At that point, the situation went from annoying to infuriating. I glanced at H and started to make my way to him again. Then the old lady and the younger guy physically pushed me back, yelling "PAY SEPARATE, PAY SEPARATE." Surprised that they would get physical with me, I raised my voice saying "I'm going to talk to him first. I already paid you." They continued to push back and tug at my purse. Finally, tears sprung to my eyes and I just exploded "LET ME GO. GET OUT OF MY WAY", and I barreled towards H. Meanwhile, H was already in a rift of his own. I learned later that one of the guys had pulled a very large bill (500baht) from his wallet and was now demanding more. They were in a yelling match already, but at soon as H saw my tear-stained face, the tension escalated. "WHO DID THIS?", he shouted, pointing to me, walking around them excitedly. I could feel his anger and I'm sure the locals hustling us could too. They backed away from him, but continued to jeer and demand more money. H walked over to the guy who was hassling me and got into his face, asking him if he touched me. He scampered away, but continued to yell. H then walked up to the loudest one and grabbed his shirt and pushed him, telling us to give us back our money or else. Scared, the guy gave H back some (but not all of it). He told H that the grandma had the rest. The old lady had long retreated back to the far side of the sidewalk after seeing H react. It caused quite the commotion on the sideway, detouring locals and tourists both. H was absolutely steaming, I was sobbing, and there was just a whole bunch of yelling. After a few more lines back and forth (of explicit nature), I pulled H away, scared that things would get physical. A passing local asked us what happened and told us she'd accompany us to the police station so we could file a report. We thanked her but at that point, H was in no mood to talk anything out.
As intense as that situation was, the tension dissipated after we had reached Khao San Road after another 10 minutes. H had been clearly upset but was now just quiet and all my anger had turned into worry. Eventually, we decided that we were just glad it was over.
That evening, after such a crazy ordeal, we decided to relieve all that tension by setting massages. We decided to check out a spa recommended by our good ole Lonely Planet guide and headed to the Siam area after a quick trip to the hotel to clean up. The Siam area of Bangkok actually really reminds me of the Powell area in SF. Like Union Square, there is a public transit stop that dumps you right into the mall. The Siam area is super clean and modern, with a series of three shopping centers all interconnected. The smalls were upscale and everything was expensive, with prices similar to or exceeding US prices.
The recommended spa was in the further center (Siam Discovery Center). For being in a mall, the spa was super nice. I decided to try getting a traditional Thai massage because I was in Thailand for the first time and the spa menu touted it as the ultimate way to get rid of tension and stress (which sounded perfect after the morning that we had). This was to be my first time getting this type of massage and I was eager to try something new.
Now, many of my close friends and family have probably heard about my "lesbian" massage experience in SF. As a quick recap, over the past few years I have become a fan of Swedish massages. As part of my 25th birthday surprise, H made me an appointment for a Swedish massage at Tru Spa, a very fancy spa in downtown SF. The experience quickly went from normal to (what I thought then was) Lesbian when 1) during the massage masseuse told me repeatedly that I had "such a nice body" and 2) when, at some points during the massage, she got onto the table with me and straddled me/massaged my bottom,etc.
Up until this trip, I had always looked back at that experience with amusement and a little big of confused. What I've learned from my first Thai massage experience is that 1) Thai people are generally very nice people and enjoy giving complements and 2) a Thai massage is basically a therapeutic wrestling match. The massage is very interactive and the masseuse uses all parts of her body and a whole variation of positions to help you stretch and relieve tension in your muscles. The whole experience was very interesting, but I could see how it is relaxing (in its own way) and probably very good for your body. During my Thai massage experience, I realized the similarities to my Lesbian experience. This is when it occurred to me that maybe this wasn't my first time getting a Thai-style massage. The realization almost made me laugh, but hey, at least now I'm not so confused about my birthday "surprise" now :)
All in all, a very eventful day. The next day we were headed to Chiang Mai... and the adventures continue.
Till next time,
xoxo
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