I've been in Thailand for about a week. I met up with Katherine and her friend Dan without difficulty on my arrival, and we all spent a couple of days in Bangkok together as well as four days on the islands in the Gulf of Siam. So far, I feel like my trip has been dominated by eating and visits to temples. In fact, for those of you who need proof of my dedication to blogging, I just passed up the opportunity to visit two more temples with Katherine in favor of writing this post.
I purchased a new digital camera for this trip (the first camera I've owned since about age 12), and I'm pleased to post some pictures of our adventures. Of course, after carefully uploading my best pictures, I navigated over to Katherine's most recent post and found that she'd put up almost exactly the same ones! So look for nuanced differences in our perspectives on Thailand.
In Bangkok, we visited three holy sites: Wat Arun (Temple of the Dawn), Wat Pho (pictured, and site of an inconceivably large reclining Buddha), and the Grand Palace (home of the Emerald Buddha). We then s
pent our one afternoon in Bangkok at a medical facility, since Katherine's foot "felt weird." Fortunately, it was ok, and a Thai version of Ronald McDonald made the whole trip worthwhile -- that's right, they have McDonald's locations IN THE HOSPITAL. Also Starbucks.Our last sto
p in Bangkok before flying to the islands was a Snake Farm, where they milk snake venom -- presumably to produce antivenin, but perhaps just to amuse tourists. This snake, slyly peering out from beneath a leaf, was difficult to spot at first, since he looks just like a vine, and also hangs from the tree in such a way as to cultivate this misimpression. At the snake farm, I learned that everything my father had ever told me about snakebite care was incorrect. Also, they had a fun little video about the deadliness of snake venom, oddly set to a very upbeat jingle.
p in Bangkok before flying to the islands was a Snake Farm, where they milk snake venom -- presumably to produce antivenin, but perhaps just to amuse tourists. This snake, slyly peering out from beneath a leaf, was difficult to spot at first, since he looks just like a vine, and also hangs from the tree in such a way as to cultivate this misimpression. At the snake farm, I learned that everything my father had ever told me about snakebite care was incorrect. Also, they had a fun little video about the deadliness of snake venom, oddly set to a very upbeat jingle.Later: pictures and stories from the islands!
1 comment:
I appreciate the cultural sensitivity Ronald McD is showing by holding his hands prayerfully.
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