“Shine bright like a
diamond. Shine bright like a diamond. Shine bright like a diamond.”- Rihanna, “Diamonds”
This weekend was Loi Krathong which is one of the largest
festivals in Thailand. I made plans to meet up with some friends in Sukhothai,
where legend says the festival began. Actually the legend was debunked and it
started somewhere else. But their festival was supposed to be huge.
I left work Friday and headed to the bus station. After
getting one of the four tickets left, I embarked on the 8-hour bus ride to
Sukhothai. Thai buses are essentially like a Greyhound/Megabus. There are more
amenities if you pay for the nicer ones (Free food, less stops, etc.). They usually show movies as well. This was my second time taking a bus and they
played Fast and Furious 6 again.
Apparently Thais love the Fast and the Furious
movies. When you consider how crazy Thai traffic is, the irony is too much.
Anyway I got in a little after two in the morning. My
friends Eli and Nicole live only about an hour and half away by motorbike; so
they had the night to explore the city a bit. They picked me up by motorbike
and we crashed at the hotel. Also, this was my first time on a motorbike. It was awesome.
They’re essentially mopeds that are common everywhere in Thailand. Motorbikes
are usually used for local transportation but can go up to 60 mph as well. I’m
tempted to buy one if I can get it for cheap. Ignore that last sentence mom.
The next day we got up and visited the “old city” of
Sukhothai. As you may guess, this was the older part of the city that had ancient
ruins preserved within its walls. It was full of green fields, rivers, old statues,
and monuments. Vendors and food stalls lined the roads that were surprisingly cheap.
The area was also decorated with lanterns, wreaths, and other ornaments. We
wandered around the ruins and soaked in the atmosphere. Also, for some reason, music from The Lion King was blasting throughout the place. It was the music that plays when Mufasa dies. Really random.
Later in the afternoon, we stopped by a free Muay Thai fight
and martial arts show. Muay Thai boxing is basically boxing except you can use
your legs and grapple more. I was a little shocked when I saw that kids would
be doing the boxing and martial arts. However, it was just a show and the all
the hits were staged. I guess a Thai version of the Hunger Games on a national holiday wouldn’t go well for anyone.
May the odds be forever in your favor.
That being said, it was really cool to see the kids fight with wooden swords and rods. They were very talented and it was well choreographed. Some even blew fire. I wish I could blow fire.
After walking around for a while, we decided to sit down and
get some dinner. As we’re sitting down I see a large group of white people. I
don’t usually see a lot of white people these days. As I look closer, I realize
that it’s Andy (my friend from Dayton) with his Fulbright friends. Neither of
us had talked about our plans that weekend, so it was a really crazy
coincidence we ran into each other here. Like really crazy. There were hundreds
of food stalls and thousands of people. I’m still sort of weirded out by it. But
it was fun to catch up with him briefly and say hi to the other Fulbright
crowd I had met before.
We decided to stop by a bar outside the city until the
fireworks began in two hours. It was fairly mellow but we did see an elephant
pass by.
In typical Thai fashion, we realized that the fireworks
happened about a half hour earlier than they were supposed to start. But the
main reason for coming back was for the lantern release. Thais light lanterns
and send them into the sky. The purpose is to let go of one’s misfortunes and
pray for good things to come. It was beautiful to see all these glowing orbs
drifting through the sky.
We got some more food after that (we’re becoming true Thais,
always eating) and then went back to the hotel. The bus ride back the next day
was another long 8 hours. Luckily they played Fast and Furious 6 AGAIN to keep me occupied. When the bus stopped,
I realized that the final stop was not the bus station I was at before. No big,
I was planning on taking a taxi back anyway. I got to the taxi line and
realized that there were no less than 60 people in front of me. Cabs seemed to
come once every few minutes. Great.
I stood there in a line only a few minutes before a Thai man
started talking to me. He asked me where I was going and I tried to explain the
landmarks near my apartment. He smiled and motioned for me to follow him. He
called over a cab driver who wasn’t in the queue and told me to head off with
him. The cab driver was great and got me home in less than a half hour. Such a
nice act of kindness to end the weekend on a great note.
The one thing I missed this weekend was seeing the actual
Krathongs. The Krathongs are little ornaments with candles that float down the
river at night. This is to celebrate the end of the rainy season. I got back a
little too late Sunday night to see it but the trip was worth it.
Here are a few other random things this week:
- I realized that everyone carries white-out with
them. Everyone.
-
Since all the classrooms are open air with no
screens, birds sometimes fly into the classroom. It’s OK because they usually
just fly out the other side.
-
I’ve started drinking coffee a little bit. If I
drink it black it’s not bad for you right?
-
Tried doing yoga every day in the morning. Got
two mornings in. I like sleep.
This week I’m trying to find an actual Muay Thai fight to go to. I’m also searching for a place that will serve Thanksgiving food- I need stuffing to make it through December.
Mark
P.S. No post from Davis for a while. He must have stumbled upon a new number.
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