We departed early morning from Siem Reap, Cambodia towards the Thai border. Before leaving the city, in the early morning hours, a few monks were stopping by houses for their daily alms routine. The number of monks were sparse and not in en masse like it was in Luang Prabang, Laos. The locals accord monks, irrespective of their age, the highest respect among mortals, even some prostrating on the ground before/after giving alms
On the way, Sin offered to stop by at this childhood home in a village about an hour from Siem Reap to introduce us to his Dad and his crocodile farm. We merrily took the offer and visited his place. His Dad, a retired police offer, was a cut out and sturdy man in early sixties. He was visibly happy to host us yet a bit tight with the local custom to be respectful of the visitors. It was indeed an honor to be invited into their humble dwelling.
The crocodiles farmed for their skin and meat were held in 3 small pens with respective pools. An adjoining swamp unnerved us a bit as we were concerned about mosquito bites amidst the rampant dengue cases. Sin walked us through his house and was proud to show us the bicycle he used to ride between his home town and Siem Reap during the week-end, a journey of 60 KM each way. During the week days, he used to stay in a monastery for boarding and lodging while he attended the school in Siem Reap. Sin has had a rough ride to make ends meet.
After ~3 hours of ride, we reached Thai border. At the border, we met Jimmy, our Thai guide, who helped us clear our vehicle. Just like many other SE Asian countries, Thai mandates Overlanders to have a government approved guide. After about few hours of ride (a substantial amount of time spent in infamous city traffic grid), we reached our funky hotel in Bangkok. We refreshed and headed off to the Bangkok night market which was loaded with plenty of food stalls and trinket stalls. The whole place was flooded with hordes of Chinese tourists, in small groups with the lead guide holding a flag, guides doling out instructions in loud decibels. We roamed around the market aisles, grabbed some grub, and got out of the noisy market.
Nearby, before we got into the metro, we ran into a Ganesha temple in a corner of a busy crossing. It was quite festive with huge Ganesha statue, bright lights, bright yellow garlands, people lighting lamps, and Apsara dancers with full ensemble. The custom is that after the worshippers’ wishes are fulfilled, they visit the temple to make their offering, thanking the Lord Ganesha. Depending on their level of offering, an announcement is made and the Apsara dancers and accompanying musicians render a performance, commensurate with the contribution. From what we were used to, it was atypical to see an open and considerable a big temple in a busy street corner.
To check off the remainder touristy landmarks, we visited the Buddist temples and Grand palace. The temple was immaculate with ornate carvings and intricate designs. Perhaps with less noise and crowd, the serenity of the temple ambience would have been palpable. The next and last stop was the Grand palace. The current King’s younger profile posters in military attire was ubiquitous. Thai revere their King (especially the current King’s Dad), almost with God like status. Based on recent news about the current King and what we could decipher from local’s tacit confirmation, it occurs that a lot of current King’s good will is a spillover from his Dad’s. Apart from the manicured lawn, military guards, and beautiful building, nothing fancy caught our attention. Even in the big city like Saigon, we avoided doing activities in the city. So, the city tourism was a bit of a put off for us. May be, we were prejudiced by predominantly visiting places where locals go about their business with less/no tourists. Bangkok was at the other extreme of being inundated with tourists.
Superb Rafiq
Inspires Everyone to go there once