This story is dedicated to Adriana, Sofía, Maru, and Xochitl, who traveled all the way from Mexico to these distant lands to share some time with the contentious and intense Ventosas. It was the first time any of them except Sofía had been to Asia, and none of them, Sofía included, had ever been to Thailand. One by one they joined the trip that Adriana and I had been planning for a long time.
At last the long-awaited, carefully plotted day arrived, for all of us and for Juan. We were beside ourselves with excitement to receive the four friends coming in from Mexico.
The airport reunion was all nerves and emotion, and finally there we were together, fourteen days stretching ahead of us.
From the airport we spent a few hours here at our apartment talking over each other and eating some of the exotic fruits we had bought especially so they could try those little treasures. Afterward, since we had to take everyone except Adriana (who stayed at our place) to check in at a hotel we had chosen nearby, the five of us seized the moment and got a traditional Thai massage. I still hadn't experienced one of those, and it turned out to be somewhat painful, nothing like other massages, but ultimately quite pleasurable.
I had read that this traditional Thai massage, rather aggressive in the way it stretches every limb of the body, is meant to unblock energy wherever it has stagnated, so it can flow properly again and health can be restored or maintained.
Later, somewhat recovered, we decided to make the most of it and take them to the Khao San area, close to where we live, famous for the sheer volume of people and things on display. It is a tourist zone of its own particular kind.
To get there we took the river taxi from the pier near our building. We passed through the market where I do my everyday shopping, and they got their first glimpse of the food and goods sold around here.
We arrived on the street called Khao San and, after a few initial purchases, sat down to sample what would be their first Thai meal.
It came more easily to some than to others, but everyone enjoyed it. To wash it all down we had typical blended fruit drinks in all sorts of flavors, which, it has to be said, were an enormous hit with everyone.
On the second day, when we woke up, we discovered that Adriana was already in the pool. She was enjoying a good soak, a coffee that Marcel had brought down to her when he spotted her there, and a long chat with him.
I joined the conversation and the swimming shortly after, and later, once everyone was up, we figured out what to do with the day.
As we had planned, and given that no one had slept in too badly, we headed to the Grand Palace, one of those beauties you simply cannot leave Bangkok without seeing.
I should mention here that Maru's stomach staged a revolt on her. She blamed the Thai food, but I have my doubts. We had eaten Thai, yes, but very light Thai at that, and besides, I find it far more plausible to pick up infections from airplane food than from anything in this food culture.
Which is a good moment to mention that in all this time we have not caught a single bug, and I buy peeled fruit, we drink fresh-squeezed juices from street stalls, and so on, things I would never have done back in Mexico.
Before deciding to do any of that, we read extensively on the subject, including things written by overly cautious Europeans and foreigners in general.
Back to the cultural narrative: right there we also entered the temple of Wat Phra Kaew, where they were able to admire the Emerald Buddha (which, it should be noted, is not emerald at all but jade). It stands 66 cm tall. It is exquisite, and its robes are changed according to the season, each set woven from gold thread and silk. The Buddha may not be photographed. Poor Maru was not feeling well, but once again the pressure of so little time forced us to keep moving. She held up admirably, whatever anyone might say.
After some drinks and a light lunch, we walked a few blocks to enter the largest temple in Bangkok, Wat Pho. It houses a gigantic reclining Buddha measuring 46 meters at the base and 15 meters in height, representing the passage into nirvana and the next world. The feet are inlaid with mother-of-pearl, and the whole thing is staggering, as you can see in some of the photos I'm including here.
In this temple, Sofía and Juan (the others, I think, not so much) also marveled at the largest collection of Buddhas in all of Thailand: 394 images.
Thoroughly saturated with information and sights that left us slack-jawed, we made our way toward the first round of serious shopping.
All of the friends were after computers, cameras, and one or two other small electronic gadgets.
Electronics, as far as we have researched and confirmed here in Bangkok, are a good buy and at good prices.
With Juan and Marcel guiding the expedition, and given that we had already done advance research on shops and prices so they wouldn't waste too much time on it, they made several of those purchases. You'll see some photos here of the pile of packages we managed to accumulate in just a few hours. The electronics shopping was a classic example of what Bangkok can do to you.
Everyone enjoyed it, deliberated, consulted the expert men accompanying us, and made their decisions, which the experts deemed sound.
We ended up having dinner at a restaurant right next to the enormous electronics mall (Pantip Plaza), because by then hunger was not leaving us in any condition to go somewhere more interesting. Besides, this Thai restaurant chain called S&P does offer some non-Thai options.
That meal was a bit of a stretch for my dear friends, and they didn't want to be too daring. I think they should be, next time.
Maybe because we, even though we also get tired of Thai food at times, have really enjoyed the adventure of trying things, even when now and then something doesn't quite work for us. It is an enormously varied cuisine, of course, packed with combinations that are fairly audacious.
In any case, our life philosophy, which some of you have heard me quote before and which comes from a poem by Machado, is what we try and will always try to apply, and it goes like this: "Donde hay vino, bebemos vino, y donde no hay vino, agua fresca."
(Literally: "Where there is wine, we drink wine, and where there is no wine, fresh water.")
The PhotosTo be continued…
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