You and I, the last refugees

Finally a Tourist in BKK

So, after being extremely lazy and avoiding the tourist zones of Bangkok, I decided, ummmm after 5 weeks, perhaps you should go see the Wats and Royal Palace.

Off I went, 30 minutes, and 40 baht later I arrived at the Royal Palace and Wat Phra Kaew. Note to Asian people who might be able to pass for Thai: avoid the line selling tickets and go to the line in Thai with the sign: Thai entrance, Free. Greet the guards there with a polite nod and a sawatdeekha (or sawatdeekhrap for men) and mosey through, it'll save you 250 baht (about 7 bucks). So passing through, I wandered about the grounds. This is what I have to say about it, breathtaking, all the churches and castles in Europe are nothing compared to the golden, jewelled Wats. They beckon somehow with their awe and peaks reaching to the sky. Walking about, the Westerners conversations (mainly European, few if any Americans) were, "I feel like this is a movie set, it can't possibly be real." Oh boy, but it is.

For some information/history read this: Wat Phra Kaew and the Royal Palace

Downsides: large tourist groups following their guide with the flag was a bit/large annoyance and the crowds in general were not nice turning it into an amusement park of sorts. True, me being there myself did not help the crowd effect.

After the wandering around the grounds, I ventured off to Wat Po for a massage and to see the Giant reclining Buddha. Not as glittery as the previous grounds, but much less crowded and wonderful architecture as well. There was a much more peaceful atmosphere (yes yes, I know, due to the lack of crowds). Wat Po

And so friends, that's how to spend a weekend.

For my personal photos click here .

Another reason to move to Asia, the health care is oh so much better than in the United States. I decided to get a check up to see about all the raving about Thailand's health care. Keep in mind, I went to a private hospital and paid for services in cash without insurance. For a complete physical and annual check of everything (including gynecology and all that good stuff), the bill came out to be about a hundred bucks. Compared Columbia's overly expensive insurance plan where one pays close to 2000 bucks for insurance, plus 10 dollar office visits, and everything else, I'd say this is a bargain. PLUS, after contacting them on Friday, they called on Saturday to set up an appointment for Sunday according to my own schedule. One actually gets to see a real doctor, as opposed to Nurse practitioners (columbia's favorite people to treat students) who were quite nice. (most people know, I hate doctors, hospitals, and all that ish, but this dispelled a good number of my harboring dislike, perhaps I should stay in Asia merely for the health care. BTW, Singapore health care insurance - covers all emergencies and the like is 35 dollars a semester)

So pluses for Thailand: Architecture, food, prices, healthcare, housing, beaches, transpo (as in public transpo)
Cons: Um.. people yelling at me because they think I'm a prostitute (that still ranks pretty high up there) along with the blatant sex tourism and pollution (I think my lungs are coated black), transpo (taxis and roadways are continuously clogged- traffic yam heaven - this coming from someone who lived in LA), and no sidewalks on the small sois

posted by Mai-Lan @ 18:24