I don't often change my mind about a city. New York was one exception. I expected unpleasantness, rudeness, nothing but noise. Instead I found an amazing abondance of life on the streets, food (I mentioned that already didn't I) and it was a lot prettier then I expected. My experience in Bangkok has been much the same.
I arrived exhausted last Wednesday night, confused and disorientated. Jet lagged for sure, but from where? Was it seven hours from home, or eleven hours from Texas? And the noise, and the smells and the confusion of shops spilling out on the streets and pedestrian bridges overhead and skytrains above them and the uncertainty about where was north and where was up and where was down.
Down was the most inviting direction. I had been craving a bed for some days and I was delighted to find a quiet and comfortable air-conditioned room which was all mine. At last I recovered from the disorientation fo finding myself suddenly on the wrong side of the world.
If it hadn't been for this physical and mental need to stop for a few days I would have headed straight out of Bangkok. I had convinced myself that I would not like it and that I would be better off up-country and away from the noise and pollution. I figured it would be better to get to know Thailand in the smaller towns and then brave the city. Sometimes it's good to be forced to change perspective though.
Sure my feet were exhausted after a few days of pacing around the temples and palaces. My lungs are still complaining about the fumes. But again this is a city of life, so much life, so hard to find a spot without life. It is a city of food. Oh, even if it was not one of my favourite things, I could not miss the food. It's everywhere. There's fruit stalls and fried things (dead, but hard to identify). There's drinks and crackers and it all looks so good. What I've tasted has been excellent and I have had no ill effects yet.
This change in attitude has gently persuaded me to alter my travel plans. It is now Monday and I have no plans to leave Bangkok until at least the end of the week. And I don't have any real plans as to what to do before then.
One of my goals while here is to leanr something about Vipassana meditation. Thai Buddhists specialise in this and there are a number of centers around the country where farangs (foreigners) like me can participate. I saw a few mentioned in the guide books but I decided on my own to try to find out more in Bangkok.
Mahachulalongkorn University is a center of study for Vipassana. The university is housed in Wat Mahathat - an average Bangkok temple, blessedly free of tourists. It's located close to the river, fairly close to the Grand Palace. I had learnt from my few days here, that distance on the map is rarely an indication of how easy it is to get from A to B. The traffic was mad. I was stepping over disassembled engines in one street which seemed devoted to mechanic shops. Even when I saw the wat, there was the challenge of finding the entrance in the long whitewashed wall. Dropping my boots, I entered, expecting to be challenged pretty quick. Lets face it, I stand out a little in Thailand and I was one of the few people in the corridors not wearing an ocre robe. Strangely enough, though, I was allowed to wander freely through the buildings, browsing the noticeboards (looking for anything I could actually read so as to give me an indication of where I was) and I eventually found my way to the foreign affairs department. There would be monks who would be able to speak English and might be able to guide me to the appropriate department.
Only there weren't. I resorted to sign language. Mediation was easy to sign by an appropriate hand gesture and a serene expression. I tried to indicate teaching by miming reading a book and then I spoke the only relevant Thai word - Vipassana. All this dancing and grimacing in my mind translated as "Hello kind monk, could you tell me where I might find a place to learn Vipassan mediation."
The monk disagreed with my interpretation. Poor soul had absolutely NO idea what I was on about. In typical buddhist style, he smiled.
I smiled back.
We smiled at each other for a few moments, and then I said ' Vip-ass-AAAhna' again.
He frowned.
I frowned.
And then a look of understanding crossed his face and he exclaimed: 'Ah WIP-ass-an-a'
We were both smiling serenly at this point and nodding. Delighted to have found some common point of understanding.
My relief was short-lived however since he had no idea what I wanted to know about his favuorite form of mediation. I could have been a linguist interested in Thai pronounciation, or just a total lunatic, wandering the corridors uttering sporadic words at total strangers. I had a feeling he might be reaching for a panic button.
I tried the book gesture again. I pointed from him to me indicating that he might teach me - I don't know how I thought I was going to learn anything. We hadn't even got our basic introductions sorted out!
He got the idea. Whoa, that was a relief.
His answer, with a smile, was 'Wat Pho. Wat Pho' and he gestured vaguely southwards.
Wat Pho is another tmeple complex in Bagkok. Just south of the Grand Palace, it gathers a lot of tourists since it has an extreley large, gold leaf reclining buddha. I hadn't visited it yet, so I figured this was a good excuse. The reclining Buddha has been described as resembling a beached whale. This is an accurate description only in the sense that it is the right size, and is reclining. Being beached is not usually a nice thing to happen to a whale, they dont like it, they don't lie on the sand with a serene expression of enligtenment. The reclining Buddha does. One does not get the impression from the face on this statue that it would really prefer to be somewhere else a lot wetter. It's worth a look.
Wat Pho apart from that was a disappointment. I had seen adorned stupas in the Grand Palace and there was no sign of any teaching complex. I have to assume my ochre-clad friend had misunderstood me. It would be uncharitable to think that he had just been trying to get me out of his office - how rude!
So I trapsed northwards again. This time to Wat Bovornivet, which according to my map had an English language bookshop attached to it which specialised in Buddhist texts. The map was correct, only too literal. There were lots of books, there were lots of pamphlets, there was no information for farangs looking for enlightenment. There was however andother Wat to visit and this one was also devoid of tourists.
So I popped off my boots again. They look very odd - large leather lumpy things towering above the flip-flops on the shoe rack. Another reason I stand out a little in Bangkok.
The wat had little to offer in fulfilling my quest, but it was nice to pop into a local temple where peole were just doing their thing. Lighting incense, adorning the altars with lotus flowers, bowing reverently. How peaceful!
Sitting outside, resting my feet, enlightenment came from an unexpected source.
I struck up a conversation with a local who worked as a customs officer in Bangkok airport. He struck me as a bit lonely since his family was away in a norther province near the Lao border and I guessed he was glad of a chat anyway. He was interested in my quest, and a little surprised. He thought that Mahachulalongkorn Universtity was probably the best place to find what I was looking for in Bangkok, but he todl me what I had already heard from other sources, that Saun Mohk monastery, on the road to Malasia was the best place. Its location was more conducive to meditation than noisy materialistic Bangkok. No, he hadn't been there, but he had heard froma lot of people who had. And there was an Engligh monk in residence who gave the courses. I had already decicded to investigate Saun Mohk on my way south. Bangkok was just another option. His words, and the aching of my feet, convinced me that it was a better idea to travel out of Bangkok. It was also a good idea for me to stop visiting templeas and frightening monks.
My feet are better rested now, after a day or two of sitting, watching Bangkok happen. I'll probably head South to Malasia later this week, and spend an unusal new-year in Saun Mohk. I hope I don't frighten any more monks.