While I avoided the flooding of southern Thailand, it is still raining in Northern Thailand, where I am. After a late start and an omelet made by some Thai guy without pants I hit the road to try and get to Wat Rong Khun, aka the White Wat, designed by National Artist of Thailand Chalermchai Kositpipat. While I heard Wat Rong Khun really comes alive in the sun, when sun light is captured by the countless small mirrors on the buildings, it is still interesting in the rain. The building itself blended into the sky in a rather interesting way. Chalermchai Kositpipat also put some pop culture elements into his design for the White Wat. The pop culture references vary form completely obvious to somewhat subtle. I believe his point was to encourage you to think about how to blend the modern and the traditional in a way that enhances both. The Wat's gardens also had the nicest bathrooms I have used. I actually included a picture of them but they are also covered in little mirrors and engaged sculptures. The little town thing next to the Wat has a small exhibit of Chalermchai Kositpipat other art. Chalermchai Kositpipat has a theme, classic depictions of Thai religious images. The pop culture references that make Wat Rong Khun particularly interesting was largely absent from the exhibit. While there was a small room with some paintings of HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej, former President George W. Bush, and Osama Bin Laden, the sculpture miniatures of the Buddha look like they could have been made in 1650.
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I arrived in Chiang Rai, a small city in Northern Thailand yesterday at around 1:00. The airport only seemed to have like two taxis though since it took until a little after 2:00 to actually get one. After getting a quick late lunch I walked around the city a bit, seeing the rather impressive clock tower and the Chiang Rai International Flower Show. I also went to the Hill Tribes Museum (which didn't permit photos). The museum was well put together but was very word heavy; forentually they had words in English, somewhat of a rarity in Thailand. The next day I woke up kind of late and decided to check out the Temple of the Emrald Buddha, Chiang Rai and the other temple next door. While the original Emrald Buddha is in Bangkok contemporary Asian artists constructed a new Emrald Buddha in Chiang Rai. The Wat also had a small but we'll put together museum with some of the Buddhist stuff they acquired over the years. The next Wat was not as impressive. After getting some more money and figuring out how to get bus tickets, I found a Cat Cafe. A cat cafe is exactly what it sounds like, a cafe with cats in it. While it is hard to imagine that the health inspectors in a more developed country approving a restaurant filled with animals, I believe the concept originated in Japan, a country I always thought had quality health inspections. The coffee wasn't bad and was actually reasonably priced. The cats seem happy, well fed, and well groomed. At the end of the day I hit the night bazaar for dinner. The food was good but the Chiang Rai night bazaar is kind of small as these things go.
Today was my first real day in Bangkok so my Thai friends from Juniata and I met up. First I saw the Temple of the Golden Buddha, while many Thai temples have golden Buddha statues this is the most golden of the golden Buddhas. It is actually made of real cast gold, as opposed to being covered in gold leaf, and, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, has the highest intrinsic value of any religious object on Earth. It is defiantly a cool thing. While there, I saw two exhibits, one on the Buddha itself and one on the Thai of Chinese Dissent. The Buddha exhibit was actually kind of helpful. The Chinese Thai exhibit was also kind of interesting. While the Buddha kind of ended up in Bangkok's Chinatown I heard it is fitting since the Chinese are basically New York's Jews. They both left their homelands for a more prosperous nation because of political instability and have built reputations in the gold and jewelry industries. The Chinese seem to have been in Bangkok since before there was an America though. I then had lunch and checked out a small park with two train cars bring reused as libraries. Finally I went to Suan Lumphini, Bangkok's big urban park, to walk around and meet my friends. Just FYI, Bangkok has giant lizards just walking around the park. The picture of the giant lizard is one that was one of about 400 that is just in the park. My friends and I had dinner at a grilling type of place before having drinks at a trendy mall.
The Walk of 100 Monks and the Cave of 4,000 Buddhas
I got an early start (5:00AM early) so I could see the famous Luang Prabang alms giving ceremony. In theory, the alms ceremony is a chance for the many monks of Luang Prabang to collect all their food for the day. What was really interesting was to see the different tourists’ reactions to the ceremony. Some participated and gave food to the monks, some stood in front of the monks and took pictures with professional DSLR cameras, and some (like me) stood to the side to watch & take photos. To be honest, the guys running out in front of the monks seemed a bit disrespectful. After the ceremony and breakfast at the hotel, I went to see the Pak Ou Buddha Caves by river boat on the Mekong. After a one broken down boat and a stop for gas I arrived at the fabric village… I think the village elder slipped my tour company a couple hundred thousand kip and a bottle of Lao Lao to have all their boat drivers take a starch break in his town. It was defiantly a worthwhile stop however. It is interesting to get out of Luang Prabang and I got to sample two varieties of the local whisky, Lao Lao. The clear version with 50% alcohol content tasted just like very drinkable moonshine while the purplish one with 15% alcohol content is the significantly more interesting drink. It is made out of the local black sticky rice and tastes very much like a sticky rice desert. I don’t know if I would drink it on a regular basis but it is very interesting drink none the less. After taking off for the second time, I arrived at the Pak Ou Caves. The Pak Ou caves are essentially two caves where the former kings paid the villagers to just pack with Buddha statues, according to the signage over 4,000 Buddha statues to be precise. While the lower cave was cool it had way too many tourists to be really enjoyable, which is why I far preferred the upper cave. The upper cave doesn’t feel too much different to what I imagine it felt like 100 years ago. There is very few people, no light, and a lot of Buddha statues. It is a bit hidden away but if, for whatever reason, you end up at the Pak Ou Caves you shouldn’t miss the upper cave. After I returned and had lunch I took a break until dinner because after dinner I had movie plans. The Victoria Xiengthong Palace Hotel in Luang Prabang shows the silent documentary, or what passed for a documentary at the time, Chang every night at 7:00PM. Chang tells the story of a family of “Lao Tribesmen” in the “Jungle of Norther Siam” (Laos) and their constant struggle against the unstoppable and unbeatable forces of the jungle. While some of the characters are named, it is really a movie about man vs. nature with nature as a whole playing the role of the antagonist. It was nominated in the First Academy Awards in 1929 for “Unique and Artistic Picture” and was directed by the guys who would go on to direct King Kong (because they apparently really like to make movies about man vs. nature). Chang felt a bit more like reality TV than anything we would describe as a documentary. Through clever editing, some preset scenes, and a whole lot of filming, the directors were able to tell a story that I don’t think ever actually happened. While it was technically free, you were strongly advised to buy a drink. While the drinks were a bit pricy, it still ended up being 6.50USD for a movie, chips, and a well-made cocktail. The Lao Lao returns in my cocktail, a Luang Prabang Sunrise (consisting of Lao Lao, lemon juice, and I think a drip of red food dye) and quite successfully I might add. I will enjoy getting more than 5 hours of sleep tonight. Like yesterday, today I basically walked around Luang Prabang seeing what I could see, an activity that took up basically my day. It started with the National Museum of Luang Prabang on the site of the former royal palace. As strange as it might seem from my pictures, Luang Prabang was once the capital of Laos, an independent, albeit weak, city state, and the capital of the powerful Kingdom of Lan Xang Hom Khao or the Kingdom of "Million Elephants and White Parasols". The Royal Palace was actually a very livable building, the King still had a gold throne in a room covered in mirrored mosaics depicting Lao life (that I couldn’t take a picture of) true, but most of the building while very comfortable was a place I could actually see raising a family. I then walked around and visited several different temples, or wats (hence the pun). While some were more impressive than others all were pretty cool. What is nice is that most were functional religious sites. They had real monks who did real rituals for real worshippers. While this is something most Americans take for granted, China in particular is famous for having tourist trap temples with fake (not ordained) monks preaching to people who don’t believe any of the theology but want to look cool. The smart people in Luang Prabang, tourists and locals, wear slip on sandals because Lao tradition dictates that you can’t wear shoes anywhere respectful, like wats or people’s homes. I spent a good bit of my day tying and uniting my shoes. I also didn’t relize how hard it is to walk barefoot until I had to do a lot. I basically hobbled around the temples thanks to my flat feet. Finally I crossed the bamboo bridge by my hotel (since Luang Prabang actually has two bamboo bridges). While there is really nothing on the other side of much interest crossing the bridge itself was a cool experience. I think across the bridge is where the actual Lao people live, the little bit I saw looked like a developing nation not a weird tourist destination. Consequently, the bridge is actually used by real Lao people during the six months a year it is standing (the current are too strong in the rainy season to support the bridge). While the Lao residents cross for free the tourists pay to support the bridge, though the toll is about 5,000 Lao Kip or about 0.61USD at time of writing. I also got to try more of the Lao food, curry for lunch and beef larb for dinner. I really like the curry, it was that kind of coconuty Thai curry taste but a bit more watery. Larb is a beef based meat salad, though it can be made with other meats or fish, which is considered the unofficial official national dish of Laos. Basically it is heavily spiced hamburger with bean sprouts and mint. I kind of like it but I don’t think it is a dish I would eat regularly. The Lao people apparently agree with me on because, according to the Official Lao Airlines Magazine, is eaten on mostly special occasions. If I was a body builder or a hard core believer in the Atkins diet I would love larb, it is basically all meat with just enough vegetables to stay healthy. The restraunts here continue to amaze me. They all serve basically the same massive Western/pan-Asian/Lao menu; in one of two locations, the main drag or by the Mekong River; with one of two price points, more expensive main drag and cheaper Mekong River; and one of two opening hours, main drag actually open hours or Mekong Lao almost never open. I like the ones by the River a bit more since I can watch the sun set over the Mekong with my dinner, which is nice.
I forgot, today is Christmas and the anniversary of my Torah portion (Vayeshev). The most Christmas here is some decorations at the super touristy places, and a “Marry Christmas” from a person I met in Vietnam, a Luxemburgish guy who I had a conversation with because my hat, and a friend from ECNU. There must be another Jew in this city but I would be surprised if there is more than that. While Chabad has gone far Luang Prabang, Laos is still a bit out of their reach. Just for the record, the year I am studying abroad in China is the first year in some time I haven’t had Chinese food on Christmas. |
AuthorI am a junior at Juniata College spending a year studying abroad at East China Normal University. Please feel free to join my on my journey to China and beyond. Archives
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