We are on our way back to Bangkok where we’ll spend a full day and then fly to Hanoi Vietnam. Our stay in Thailand has been interesting and fun particularly with the Zimmer’s and Saulters. I’ve seen beautiful sights, and temples, rode and elephant, rafted a river, eaten some magnificent food, and experience some wonderful people but Thailand’s not a country that Nita and I would make a point to revisit. Unlike China we have not gathered any affection or admiration for the country. Thai’s are extremely religious, loyal to their king, and tolerant of poverty, garbage, and lack of sanitation; the people are the most gracious people that I have ever met and that may explain their tolerance. You can ask a Thai a question and if they don’t know the answer their response will be “yes’ as they fold their hands in prayer in front of their face and bow to you. I will leave Thailand with more questions then answers.
We spent the morning on the grounds of the Grand Palace which is a area that is used for coronation, funerals, and other ceremonial events involving the king and queen. The last coronation was in 1945, the current king has held the throne for 65 years. Each king adds a building or a temple to memorialize himself. As I moved through the grounds and opulent buildings I couldn’t help but think of the hill people who lived in huts with dirt floors. The Thai love their King and Queen they celebrate their birthdays in grand style each Friday there is a dominance of blue shirts because the king was born on a Friday and his color is blue. We also toured the past kings living quarters which is the largest Teak House in the world, it had over 70 room and would be a beautiful home to have in Key-West. Jerry who is a real estate agent in Florida proclaimed it a tear-down because it wouldn’t pass code inspection, only had one functional bathroom, and had suffered bomb damage in WWII. We caught a cab in the rain and went to the Mango Tree for dinner. The cab ride with a lost driver, that spoke no English and we spoke no Thai will be one of those memories that we carry home. The meal, the atmosphere and the service was fabulous. I had sea bass with garlic, lemon grass, and chili, Nita had a stir fry chicken, we had appetizers two Jack Daniels and the bill was the ebullient of $40 including tip.
We had our Thailand fare-well dinner on a rice barge on the Cha Porie River providing an illuminated view of the city space, making for a festive departure from Thailand. We as a group of 15 have now been together for two weeks; like any group relationships are being formed and personalities are surfacing. For the most part everyone gets along, but we do have one bulldog who has attached twice so far. Personally I’ve chosen to avoid her.
We’re now waiting to board our flight to Vietnam. I can’t help think of what I would have been thinking and feeling if I had been making this flight 45 years ago. The TV images, the many movies that I’ve seen are running through my mind. I think of myself as a survivor but Vietnam would have been a test. I want to learn more about what happened from the Vietnamese point of view; I want to know how they felt about the War and how they feel about the US now; although I wasn’t an active participant I feel a level of responsibility, much as I feel some level of responsibility for the Iraq war. This is the part of this trip that I feel I have to experience. I hope to leave Vietnam knowing myself better and having a better understanding of how the world works.
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