This is Thailand. Chapter 7: 27-year-old professor. Part 6.

Next I visited the Grand Palace, one of the most sacred places for Thais. On the enormous terrain, there are dozens of buildings that are extremely important in the history of the Thai monarchy. I admired the monument of the Emerald Buddha, although this was not as spectacular as some travel guides told me.

Link to the previous post: This is Thailand. Chapter 7: 27-year-old professor. Part 5.

I took a look at the miniature version of Angkor Wat – the biggest temple complex in the world, located in neighbouring Cambodia. This replica had been given to Thailand as a sign of friendship from their neighbours. It must have been a long time ago as each day the newspapers report on exchanges of fire between soldiers of both nations in the border areas. Two nations hurt and kill their own soldiers with surprising regularity for a few square miles (literally) of soil, where some fucking temples are located. I visited the throne room, where the throne was covered with gold and jewels. While in the lowest part of the palace, was a weapons museums full of spears, axes, guns and other equipment which had been used for murdering people.

The rest of the building was off limits to tourists and the whole complex felt overcrowded with tourists who seemed to spend more time taking pictures than actually seeing anything. I had been here three years before and in that time nothing had changed. Crowds and gold. A lot of gold. I had a feeling that this would be my last visit.

I pass the tuk-tuk drivers wanting to take me to Wat Po – the temple of the reclining Buddha. I know that the monument is located just a few minutes walk from the Grand Palace. Similar to the other places I’d visited, this was extremely crowded and didn’t encourage me to look around, but a 150-foot long and 32-foot tall monument, covered in pure gold, was just too impressive to miss. Behind the monument was the oldest school of Thai massage. There were less people.I walked aimlessly between the golden sacral buildings which looked more and more ordinary to me. Buddha statues, praying Thais, Buddha statutes and more praying Thais.

The more I see, the less I want to explore. No doubt it was very beautiful, but I’d seen it all before. Add the crowds, the heat and the headache – a headache that had lingered for a few weeks – and it was all a bit much. The headache wasn’t strong, which made me ignore it for a while, but it wasn’t an enjoyable sensation. It came everyday and often lasted several hours. I became immune to paracetamol a long time ago. Perhaps it was time to see a Thai doctor?

TO BE CONTINUED...

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