Im now in India! First things first, I have a little catching up on the blog to do too.
(Back in Bangkok . . .) Day before yesterday I spent the whole day in the Dusit area of the city which I liked because on the map it looks very green. I just needed to get to a more reasonable part of town for a day where I could actually hear myself think for a change. I was able to take the Skytrain fairly close to Dusit and then walk a little ways and get on a bus.
Even a short walk in Bangkok can seem long though, depending on the street and the time of day. All over S.E. Asia (and Bali and at the Taiwan airport even), lots of people wear surgical masks in response to the air pollution. I see the masks from time to time on asian people in SF too (I guess they get in the habit at home). I keep thinking its probably an excellent idea, but so far haven’t strapped one on. After a mask, sunglasses and earplugs, the only way it could get any better is if I had on my own spacesuit complete with air-conditioning on the inside. Then I could manage to stay out a looong time.
My ultimate goal for later that day was to attend a Muay Thai Boxing match at the Ratchadamnern Stadium which started at 6:30. Before that, I thought I’d check out the Royal Thai Elephant Museum which was relatively close by and next to the Dusit zoo.
I dont know if Ive mentioned this, but Ive found that more than half the time I can’t find the places Im looking for. It could be my fault, but I usually dont have this problem. I have a suspicion that the thais are really bad at giving directions.
Such was the case with the museum. I couldn’t find it. So, although I knew that Penny would not be pleased (she loathes zoos with a passion), I went to the zoo. The idea of being in the company of other species for the day sounded good.
Before entering, I almost bought a small grilled catfish on a stick from a street vendor until I realized that the fish hadn’t been cleaned (it had been grilled with the guts inside). Ummm, maybe on the way out. I got the chicken instead.
I won’t say too much about the zoo since Penny will be reading, but in all honesty, I did kind of enjoy it. The zoo had all the big hits: lions, panthers, monkeys, elephants, bears, giraffe, and huge snake collection: at least a hundred different types including several different kinds of cobra. Most of the snakes were hanging out at least partially or completely submerged in their water bowls (trying to keep cool).
At one point I was watching the monkeys who I know are notorious for doing nasty things in front of people to get their feelings across. And this one monkey came over to me and threw up right in front of me, then swung away. Another monkey then came over and ate it. It just seemed too strategic to be totally innocent. Right after that, right in front of me at waist height, a snake came out of a hole in the rusty railing. It was a bright green snake with black spots. It was on the “wrong side” of the cage (or the right side, depending on the point of view). After that I started jumping at everything that moved, thinking that there were snakes on the loose. Later in the day I swore I saw a python swimming in the lake in the middle of the zoo, but then I saw some big lizards roaming the lakes edge and figured it could have been one of them.
After the zoo, I walked a few blocks to the neighborhood Penny & I stayed in last time we were in Bangkok and turned down a street that had lots of massage parlors and also Mai Kaydee’s vegetarian thai restaurant (the place Penny and I took a cooking class at previously).
I’d always been leery of the sketchy-looking massage parlors, but today I thought I’d try one out. After all, it was only $6 for an hour thai massage and honestly, just sitting in air-conditioning for an hour would be worth it to me. It turned out to be the best. massage. ever! I was more than pleasantly surprised. Once inside, the place smelled great (like spearmint), it was clean and well-organized, and the masseuses were super friendly. The massage “tables" were foam mattresses lined up on a knee-high platform and separated by curtains. First she washed my feet in a basin with warm water and limes. Then she gave me pants and a shirt to change into, which was kind of awkward to do in the little massage cubicle (I had to stand on the mattress). But then, the massage was so awesome. She cracked my back in a bunch of places, stretched, twisted, bent and manipulated me into a bunch of different positions. Its not a massage you can fall asleep during; its pretty active. Afterwards I got a delicious cup of lemongrass/ginger tea.
Then I walked a few more blocks to Mai Kaydee’s and had a veggie spring roll and mango lassi. Which was good in a healthy sort of way.
Next, lest I be late, I grabbed a quick cab to the stadium for boxing. I probably paid way too much for the ticket but I did get ringside seats along with 100% other white people who took up the entire seating section near the ring, about 8 rows deep. All the thais stood in the back or up in the bleachers which I wished I did.
The boxing went on till 10pm but I only stayed for 3 matches. I didn’t count, but it seemed like the matches were about 8 rounds each, except for the 2nd match where one guy got knocked out after about 5 rounds and had to be quickly taken away on a stretcher.
I dont really follow american boxing, but the differences I noticed were that
- not only do you punch with your arms/fists, but you also use your legs, knees and feet to hit.
- there was a live orchestra of hand drums, oboe, cymbals and maybe some other instruments that played during the actual fighting time. The music sounded kind of like snake charmer music with a samba beat.
- before each match, the fighters prayed at each corner of the ring
- the fighters were all really skinny
Aside from that, it seemed like regular boxing to me, but Im sure there were other differences. The expressions on the fighters faces never changed throughout the match. They never showed any kind of emotion or thought process or anything. Ive noticed the same thing with thais in general though— they always seem very clear-headed, like they’re never lost in thought or affected by any emotions other than happiness.
