Stooopid us
“Do not, under any circumstances, accept tuk-tuk rides from people you happen to meet by chance on the street. Be they students, helpful strangers, or possibly even government officials. You will inevitably end up in a gem shop somewhere being pressured into buying thousands of dollars worth of worthless stones. It sounds obvious, but, believe it or not, some people still do this.” -Various sources
How I scoffed at what sort of a dumbass would do that 6 months ago.
6 months later, Lauren and I were in a tuk-tuk that a stranger had assured us was a ‘government authenticated’ one. It was taking us towards the ‘happy boodah,’ as the man had hastily scrawled on my map of bangkok. From the off me and Lauren realised we should get out of here asap and when we passed a temple, I saw my chance.
‘That looks great,’ I shouted over the choking sound of the tuk-tuk.
‘It’s closed to foreigners, only thais,’
He may as well have just said, ‘give me your wallet or you both get it.’
Luckily, I was wearing my money belt concealed around my waist, so even if things had got a bit out of hand, i could have given him my wallet containing nothing more than a few measly baht. Lauren recognised our predicament too and thanks to her 3 years of study at Middlesex university in the field of drama, managed to feign illness. The driver pulled over and i pressed 40 baht into his hand, glad to be out of there.
We managed to dive out only half a kilometer after the ‘thai’s only’ temple so we decided to investigate. Sure enough, as soon as we arrived we saw a sign for foreigners to enter, a snip at only 20 baht and possibly the most serene place I have ever visited. So possibly the entire ordeal was a blessing in disguise as Lauren and I found the most perfect temple imaginable. The courtyard was nearly silent, with designated areas (thankfully in the shade on this sunny day) where we had to remove your shoes to sit. In the temple main a monk led the meditation where the group, which consisted of mainly thais admittedly, sat in silent contemplation. I even gave it a crack myself, and while I’m not sure that I’m any closer to enlightenment, I feel that something beautiful was there.
We rounded the day off with (another) trip to Kaosan road. Bought some tinkets and other bits from the vendors there but after the long day, the haggling and aggressiveness of the vendors was beginning to grate on us so we headed for home. Tonight we plan to get well set for our ten day journey to Laos, as the ‘VIP’ minibus picks us up at seven am. I can’t wait.
Tags: bangkok, temples, Thailand, Travel
mikeloken
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