The Journey is the Destination
Sri Lanka! - Day 1 in Colombo19/10/2023 I came to Sri Lanka honestly for Sigiriya alone. Of course I wanted to see Colombo and Galle and the Temple of the Tooth and all that but Sigiriya alone was enough reason for me to be here. I didn't have many days here, being only on a 3 week leave. But even within 4 days I saw a lot, at least half of the island's key places. Thanks to all the hardwork of driving done by the people that took me. They were really sweet folks. The 1st full day (19th of October) I just chilled, and relaxing, walked around Colombo. I became very sick from the freezing overnight AirAsia flight . The flight cranked up the aircon on 10 degrees or something, it was also pumping on high fan speed. And i only had a think long hoodie to protect me. I was freeeezing on that flight. It was a midnight flight. I was soooooo uncomfortable on that flight. So welcoming, Colombo, it just poured with rain in the morning and wasn't warm. So it was not pleasant to go around to the beaches. I got cough medicine from the supermarket nearby, and went to the Pharmacy for painkillers as I just got my period, too. (I always tend to become vulnerable to the elements during my period.) I searched on Google Map and found a vegan cafe right on the other side of the main road from where I stayed. So I went over. It was a Books & Cafe kind of environment, it was quite lovely! As I'm a die-hard book-lover. This cafe is called "Pages & Coffee" I wouldn't say the food was the best, but I always am glad to be able to find watermelon juice. Although you can never know how you get food poisoning from in the tropics, it could very well come from any of these juices made with local tap water. What was special though was that I was just telling my buddy about the book Life of Pi and there it was standing very visible on the bottom part of the bookshelf here. This became very heart-breaking particularly as he had just lost his mother as soon as he got home, he found out she passed away just 4 hours prior. If he didn't have that 1 day in Delhi, he would have been able to say goodbye... When I was telling him about the Life of Pi, and recommended him to watch the film, I emphasised to him that "Have you ever experienced a significant loss in life? Someone you love? Some heart break? Then that ending would get to you. Because when I saw the final scene of the film, when the tiger leapt onto the beach and never even turned around~...'" Anyway...💔 It turned out to be extremely apt that I had mentioned loss and that book to him before he knew about his mom becoming unwell... At the time I didn't know his mother was unwell, his mother called a couple of times when he was spending time with us. And he did go buy the quickest flight to go home... Still, it was too late when he arrived... I cannot imagine how he felt that day when he went home...💔 By mid-afternoon the sky had cleared up. Having only limited time in the country, I wouldn't waste another minute, so I ordered a taxi using the local taxi app that Shamanthi recommended me to download and went to the traditional village just in the outer area of the city. That place was really weird after a while. When I first arrived I could hear village performance going on in the hall. But I couldn't see anything as the hall faced the other direction facing away from the entrance. Before long the performance sounds were gone. All the stalls were shut. There was a military base, so it was more like a soldiers area than a tourist area. I was the only visitor there. The soldiers didn't seem to mind me being there. Then I started wandering around since no one came out to receive me or guide me through the village to talk me through the history and traditions. So i walked directionlessly around the footpaths. There were all kinds of odd sculptures throughout the village showing what villagers would do in their daily lives. But these sculptures were creepy-as. ^0^ The only normal things there were a little cluster of doggies who were really bothering their mom at first, so I called to them, hoping they'd stop chewing and jumping at her. And when they saw me, Two of them came over together and 1 of them immediately bit at my favourite dress and tore it with their sharp puppy teeth, so the front of my favourite travel dress was completely split open. Jerk~. I shooed them off as they just kept jumping up and bit at my dress.
The villagers at this point came out and swatted them off with something. I called a quiet puppy over, as it was all by itself. I think this was a girl, she was sweet and endearing, and only wanted to chew at my fluffy bag hanging. Dhaka is all busy traffic, congestion, air pollution, noisy, everything in action, Nolchor island becomes such a contrast to it all, it feels as if, you're in a complete other world... Because it's an offshore island away from the mainland where Dhaka is. you need to board a boat that'll take you slowly and gently along the Meghna where you'll find yourself encountering many merchant boats carrying all kinds of goods across the River Meghna to other areas. It sure feels like this river has seen the same scenes for millenia. The village has pure dirt roads with various paths winding through the island, connecting different houses with each other. It could feel like a maze there, but once you familiarise with it, you'll probably be like the locals knowing exactly where to go to get to the family you need to see. The houses are gorgeous despite their simplicity, with beautiful colorful patterns on the windows, just metal barriers with pretty frames, you can just shut the wall behind the frames to close the windows. The houses all seem to be elevated on half-a-metre-height concrete, i presume this area experience rising tide frequently, and potentially minor flooding with the river flowing into the village hence this is a necessary and reassuring measure. The houses can come across as very private, but the frameless windows have no glass panes, the houses have no "doors", just doorways that are generally left open, like the windows. The shipping and transportation business certainly made some families wealthier than the rest. So there are some mansions on the island! Around 9 or 11 of them. Very fancy-schmancy! The mainland sure seems so far away... It's lovely. You can't hear any noise whatsoever. Just the sounds of insects in the heat, the idyllic sounds of ducks and geese, distant motors of the shipping boats, and children working together helping out dinner preparation. It's a self-sufficient island, essentially.
There's everything they need here. Of course, teens may long for the big city life, for growth, for opportunities, for new experiences, but you know life's real meaning and it's all about, practically you can have all that you need here. The island seems to stay relatively "isolated" by its own measures. I don't think children even need to go to school unless they want to go off to the main land. Nolchor people apparently boast to have the best health status in the whole country. I mean... It's technically an oasis in a desert full of crazy chaos, everything is as organic and pure as it can be. It's a simple village life if you want to romanticise it, it's perfect as it is. Why else wouldn't you stay here? Which would you choose? Chaotic big city life, or chill village living? The 1st thing I did when I arrived in Dhaka was to check in with Roy to see if he's arrived safely home. I remembered that he was going to have 1 day in Delhi, and then fly home to Israel. His mother has been calling him every day and asking him to come home. So he left Nepal, and bought a flight home, cutting his trip shorter than planned. But the 1st thing Roy replied to me after I sent the message shocked me beyond all my experience in all my travels... The rest of the trip, I travelled with a saddened heart. Especially as things were going on in Israel and Gaza, things felt like they were shrouded with double layers of mourning now. Israeli travelers like Roy and Jonathan were not posting on their socials knowing that it would be insensitive that they're showing how much fun they're having when the war was going on. So i had no way of knowing how Roy was doing for the days to come. We could only give him space to be with family, as it was a much needed time to be with them. I was gutted for him too because just before he left, I made sure that he would go to find a piece of Pashmina scarf for his mom like he wanted to. He was not feeling like it, but there was a shop right there, so we went in to have a browse, and he chose one with the help with the shopkeeper who told me that I looked like a Nepali, and that he'd been many times to China. I was looking forward to hearing from Roy that his mom liked the scarf he picked... But now... I was just so gutted for Roy and for such a loss for him and his family... It's the Worst that could happen... the worst for a traveler to come home to... I'm truly sorry for their loss. My heart felt like lead... As I floated on the river, watching Dhaka from the water,
this place felt like Varanasi... It felt as if I was in Varanasi... An atmosphere of death and the beyond surrounded my heart... I was floating beyond the liveliness and friendliness of Dhaka, in a sadness of my own. Strangely enough, Dhaka had a large Armenian community here in the 1800s. They left in the 1900s, and left behind an Armenian church and a lot of graves in the middle of Dhaka. I read through the engravings carved onto the grave stones, they were lovely words of farewell for the ones loved and lost. A coincidental but much needed solace for how I felt that day. Vivek - a guru & rabbi in his own right13/10/2023 This year, especially since I finished my last trip of the month of July, I wanted to meet someone in my October trip who would teach me something that would change my life, the way my 1st trip in Rarotonga had been changed. Well, the change wasn't so life-altering or anything this time, but, in came Vivek. Vivek is a vault of knowledge and information. He not only is someone who would "eat your brain" as Roy said it that there is an expression for it in his language (i'm not sure which one, Hebrew or Persian), He also just wouldn't stop sharing information. I just learn so damn much from Vivek. When I listened to Vivek talk, I was in AWE of what he holds in that brain of his, how on earth did he accumulate allllll this information! He must have such an amazing memory, too. Vivek gives himself a life where he travels all year long, and only works a few days every month. The rest he travels. Pretty great way to live. So as a solo traveler, he already is a wealth of information. Because 读万卷书不如行万里路。 I met a solo traveler in Rio in 2017 who worked on a ship and probably spends most of his time on the ship reading things and watching things, he wouldn't stop talking once he started, an absolute brain-eater, filled with things you can learn from. Vivek is a more than that. Vivek literally FEELS like a teacher in the way he acts around me. He would tell me when I'm not doing something right, or, I'd catch him roll his eyes or have this disapproving look of a senior teacher if I made a judgemental comment, which i do a lot. He told me in a Whatsapp message that I could across as sarcastic even if like I told him I didn't have any sarcasm in me. That's what a real friend should do. Vivek is born to be a teacher. With everything he said, and in the way he acted, you could just feel that he was here to teach others. The knowledge and the skills he had garnered in life must be shared and needed to be shared and passed on. So in a way, I see him as a guru-figure. He definitely has earned himself such a title. Sometimes a teacher-figure comes in to your life regardless of their age or title, or status in life They just become the teacher for you. Whether you like it or not. For me, I'm grateful that Vivek offered up his knowledge to us. He offered to show me tricks on how to hold a camera, he gave me tips and told me when to take shots and of what subjects when we were walking around. I sometimes find myself wanting to argue but cannot. He's right. He's really experienced. So very often I find myself saying "Okay Fine."a LOT around him. Because really, there was nothing else I could say in return. I consider him a teacher and he always holds himself as one. There's just no way I could talk back or win an argument in any situation. So I just shut up and "Okay fine." and move on and learn from him. It's amazing when I realised (on my last day, getting to spend the whole day with Vivek) that this was the teacher I had asked for. He was my teacher in every sense of the term. I'm glad and grateful that Vivek became the teacher figure in my life in his own way. After I came home and was talking about Vivek and what he taught me, I felt like I wished he was someone who I could hang out with all the time. Not to pick his brain, but just for the fact that I appreciated him as a person, and as a friend. You'll never run out of good conversations with Vivek. If you've got nothin' to say, Vivek's definitely got something to share with you. I especially love that he makes such a great travel buddy for me that he's the ONLY person I know and hung out with who takes times to take photos as I do. Hed take even more time to set up a shot , too, with his phone, that I'm usually the one hanging around waiting for him to finish setting his shots and taking the shot. I snap away mindlessly without technical skills, whereas Vivek would take a lot of time, stand very still, and go "Shoot!" using voice command, so that his shot is stable. His hands are so trained and stable though that his shots taken on Manual are much sharper than the shots I took on Auto. He probably also only takes 1 photo each time, too, not many like a lot of poeple usually do. Like me, he'd take just one. And one that had taken plenty of time to build and create. 1 take, slowly, and surely the perfect Vivek-style shot. This is an important trait to learn and build a habit on.
To do something right, and do it well. Vivek would take his time to focus on the quality of the image he's capturing rather than taking lots of shots and rely on the quantity of photos to produce 1 good shot like the absolute amateurs would do. This was an eye-opener for Roy and I. To see Vivek at work, taking absolutely beauuuitiful photos with just a mobile phone. This was possibly the MOST important thing I had learnt from Vivek. And I'm super grateful for this. Day 5 - 2nd time at Swoyambhu13/10/2023 The 2nd time I came to Swoyambhu was with Vivek. Vivek took pictures of me here too, which I never got from him. I wish people would be more proactive in sharing photos like I do. Anyway, He made me laugh as soon as we got there. Even just from the bottom of the staircases, We were slowing down too much for us to reach the before-sunset stage. The sunset was already set, and Vivek was still stopping and snapping pics at the bottom of the stairs, and looking at low quality sourvenirs at random stalls set up by the staircase. Although the sun had already set, we were not even half way up the staircases, the sky was already turning pink in the afterglow. After we reached the top, the sky was getting purple. It was rather lovely. ^_^ If I could offer any tips, I would say come here just before sunset, and stay until after dark. We stayed well after the city lights had turned on. It was a very peaceful and lovely atmosphere here, as tourists had already left. It was just the locals and the dogs. Monkeys in particular had gone quiet and prepared to sleep. Some started cuddling in the cooling temperature of the night. It's much better after dark. We went to a rooftop cafe at the back of the alleyway
Got myself a glass of that mint lemon juice that the Israelis love to have at OR2K It was clearly more peaceful at this time of the day. There was no rush to leave or anything, There were no other customers at the cafe, but people were gathering at the bottom floor, it didn't feel like they were in a hurry to close the cafe at all. Their dogs were also chilling by their feet at the bottom of the spiral stairwell. It was really just us, Swoyambhu and the dogs. I rather enjoyed this 2nd visit. Good buddy's good company, No annoying monkeys, that's the key, probably. So many Israelis in Kathmandu!12/10/2023 In the middle of Kathmandu, I was surrounded...by 🇮🇱 travelers. In Nepal, you see the ✡︎ everywhere on temples and ancient structures in various Durbar Squares. Because in Buddhism, ✡︎ symbolises harmony. The 1st time I saw ✡︎ on a building, it really made me wonder, How on earth did humanity come about with the exact same symbol in 2 completely separate religious bodies??? And which came first? Who might have influenced who???? Etc etc. It was all so fascinating! I had no answers to these questions because I simply had no time to sit down to even look through my phones in my time in Nepal. I did a search later : The Symbologist: History of the six-pointed star There's also this video below which recounts the history of this ✡︎: But what really felt like serendipity alongside this was in actuality, in Kathmandu, our buddy is Israeli and he knew of a restaurant called OR2K that was serving food to Israeli travelers for half price. So he took us there twice in 2 days. When we arrived, I saw a piece of paper stuck to the service counter that it was a couple who was donating money to pay for half of all Israeli travelers’ purchase here. It wasn’t the restaurant’s idea. But seriously, the restaurant had 3 or 4 floors of dining space, Aside from tables, there are just cushions on the floor and sitting space all middle-eastern & of course Nepali style. I love sitting on the floor so it was lovely to just be in a restaurant at last where I could do so. The restaurant served foods of all origins, whether it’s curry or thai or pizzas or Israeli food. What was really spectacular though was the sheer scale of the customers on each floor. By the entrance to each floor, the floor space was covered with customers’ shoes, and once we were seated and I looked around me, practically every customer was an Israeli. Roy had his way of telling what kind of Israeli travelers each group was, too. First we had a running hilarity about the Israeli travelers’ sandals. As soon as you see those ugly iconic sandals, you’d know they’re Israeli, “They all had the same sandals!” SO every time I saw those sandals, I just called out “Israeli!” between ourselves for the fun of it. Seriously though, at one point, it felt like Kathmandu was filled with Israeli travelers, more than travelers from any where else. And here I was, on my 2nd time here, sitting at the very end of the dining space,
right in front of my eyes, a roomful of Israelis that day... It was a strange and quite wonderful sight. There must be such a sense of camaraderie right then and there for all of the Israelis. Especially considering what had been going on back home and on Palestinian side... In this very restaurant called OR2K, there was a a lot of shalom and a lot of לְהִתְכַּנֵּס. As all jews were scattered in the ancient times, but will eventually come together. It was quite a lovely and unique scene for me to be in. Roy said there's a word for it in Hebrew, where Israelis would gather in times like this, it's called Israeliada. It's quite a lovely thing for him as an Israeli, he said to me. It has been horrible seeing attacks on people from both sides already, It is important to remember, whatever actions the governments and militaries or political forces of a nation are taking, people of those Palestinian / Israeli backgrounds shouldn’t be the target in countries of peace, where a lot of physical attacks and antagonism have been taking place. That’s just downright stupid & Humanity showing its true colours. As Chinese, we simply do not support or speak for any side with what’s happening. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Day 1 - Swoyambu10/10/2023 Swoyambhu, Swayambhunath, Swayambhu, Monkey Temple. There are so many ways of calling it this temple, but I certainly feel monkey temple is my least favored name. It diminishes how important and iconic this place is as one of the main n pilgrimage sites for buddhists. I came to Swoyambhu 1st thing on my 1st morning. I came alone, since Roy & Vivek had probably for their excursion already and I couldn't find Enzo or Connor when I was leaving. So I took a taxi straight to it. As soon as you arrive, you'd be confronted by this: Okay, it was then that I got it, why this place was referered to as the Monkey Temple at the hostel. Because as soon as I heard Monkey Temple i almost didn't want to go. But once I got here, I realised this was the temple they meant when they said "Monkey Temple". I really am not a fan of these rascals. Life is hard for them so they have to tough up. I find Monkeys annoyingly invasive and unnecessarily aggressive towards people. In terms of animal creatures, monkeys are probably the only type that would confront human and attack people without hesitation. Dogs may get territorial, like hippos, Cats don't respect humans as much, but Monkeys literally just come IN your way with the intention to steal. I just don't like them. So I don't like how they dominate the temple sites more than the temple structures. This place is beautiful though. I was very glad to have come as my 1st site of this trip. Bells are going off at one shrine, and the priest was chanting while ringing a hand-held bell. and it was funny that there was a dog sleeping directly underneath the ringing bell. It was so noisy with all the clinking and monkeys running around. With the heat added on top, this temple space felt more chaotic than it actually was. Dogs seem to coexist in this area at the top of the hill. They get really active at night, I later learnt when we came back again on my final evening. But dogs aren't annoying like monkeys during the day. They just laid there and slept. The pigeons seemed more alive than the dogs. It was indeed too hot for the dogs under the mid-day sun. I loved the trinkets, artefacts and jewelleries sold here at the top. The shops host a huge variety of beautiful crafts that I've never ever seen before. My favourite was the metallic (brass?) handbags. Had I been a suit-case carrier, I'd totally have gotten 1 of them. But they're just too solid. It must weigh like 3kg each. There'd be no way I'd get one of them, however much I want them. When will I have the fortune to have someone traveling with me and carry stuff like this for me home? I wouldn't mind if they come just part of the trip, and bring things like this back for me. And let me go on traveling for the rest of the trip. :p I just need a slave, who can carry souvenirs for me and take them home. I bought 7500 Nepalese Rupees worth of jewelleries from this aunty, and she still kept recommending more and more stuff to show me, for me to make more purchase. I told her to "Stop, aunty." "Aunty, stop! I got so mnay already!" And she ignored me and kept going. "Aunty! That's enough! Stop!" I got thirsty from the up-hill climb. There were quite a lot of stairs, and it was mid-day by the time I walked all the way around the temple complex, and through the back alleyways. So i went and got myself a bubble tea. After I left the cafe and walked out under the sun, before I was prepared to take a good sip, this monkey already flew towards me and landed on my chest, trying to grab my drink. I screamed instantly and it flew off and left me again. I think it realised I wasn't holding real fruits or something edible. It was a plastic cup full of food coloring and yam powder. None of it was good enough for a monkey to be honest, I wouldn't even feed it to them, nor would I have chosen it over real fresh juice. I only just started traveling, and had been in NZ for 2 months before this for my home time. I wasn't yet atuned enough to these naughty rascals, despite having been in Phuket and had visited Monkey Hill, where the monkeys were much more well-behaved and practically left the human passers-by alone. This was a good warning for me to stay alert from this point on. When these rascals are around, it's important to always be always aware of their omnipresence. They could dart out from any direction. What I did find at this bubble-tea shop was that
Nepal has adopted QR code for payments. I love that. Even NZ is too far behind for this natural default digitisation of daily transactions. Digital payments are sooooo convenient. *Sigh*... NZ... The Western World... So called "developed world"... Ugh. *Shake head* Day 1.5 in Nepal, Day 1 of Digital Detox10/10/2023 There is significant benefit in doing a digital detox, and I decided to do it again after my 2nd time in Phuket which lasted a week. This time I made it 10 days. My 1st digital detox was when I was in Cuba. I thought it would be a great place to do it, because internet could only be used when physically on the streets anyway, I might as well not have it. I loved it. It felt more like life again, The life we used to have pre-2010. I've always been a camera person, even before smartphones, I'd carry a camera everywhere. I was the Asian person taking pictures all the time, my friend would roll her eyes and smile when I poked my camera at her face. I just loved taking pictures. Phone, however, is a different matter. I hated waiting for txts, waiting to hear back, waiting and waiting, checking the phone to see if I received a message reply. That wasn’t healthy. Smartphones are worse. It's a micro-laptop on hand + a camera + a phone (which is a function I do not use). But the information you can gather on a smartphone is just too much. Looking at the phone becomes a filler of times when we could stare blankly at the ocean/the mountain/the street, thinking inward and giving our brain the time to wander and wonder at things. So that's why I'm doing the digital detox again. I do allow people to msg me, because that's how travelers and my family can stay in touch with me. But I do not look at social media of any kind. That was just the best choice ever. I also had too many things happening day in day out that I had no time to look at the phone anyway. So a week went past like nothing. I didn't need the smart phone for anything but panning a shot with it like a camcorder, or taking videos and photos whenever I did not feel the need to use my camera-camera. Doing the digital detox allows you to connect more with yourself, and spend more time looking at the world rather than the worlds within the phone. I made time for writing my diary instead of looking at the phone,
I made time to read when I had any time at all to do so. In fact I feel like 10 days aren't even enough. I can easily go for 2 weeks or more next time I'm traveling. Especially if I have made a lot of friends. Time away from the phone is a good valuable time, worthy of living 100% present. I highly recommend every one of my friends some of that digital detox. It's so good. I'm going to do it again for every trip I take. This Aunty was so eager to sell me more !10/10/2023 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝟑𝟓𝟎𝟎 𝒓𝒖𝒑𝒆𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒇𝒇 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎. 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒓. 𝑻𝒐 𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒑𝒖𝒓𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕💸 𝑰𝒇 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒏'𝒕 𝑺𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒓, 𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅'𝒗𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒃𝒃𝒆𝒅 𝟑𝟓𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝒓𝒖𝒑𝒆𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒆, 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒃𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒂 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒖𝒎 𝒊𝒏 𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕. 𝑰 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒃𝒂𝒈𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒅 𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒂𝒍, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒘𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒎𝒚 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒍 𝒃𝒂𝒈 𝒊𝒕𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒗𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒌𝒔. 𝑶𝒇 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆 𝑰 𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒈𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒆𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑰 𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝑩𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒌𝒐𝒌. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝑰 𝒔𝒂𝒘 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒊 𝒑𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒖𝒑 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒖𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒘 𝒎𝒆 𝒑𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒖𝒑 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒆𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒕, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒋𝒆𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒆. 𝑰 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏 𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝑳𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒖𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒆, 𝑰'𝒎 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒙𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕-𝒘𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒓. 𝑺𝒐 𝒎𝒚 𝒃𝒂𝒈 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒂 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒅. (𝑨 𝒔𝒚𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒎 𝑰'𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑰 𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒎𝒚𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒂𝒏 𝑬𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒕 𝑺𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒂 𝒃𝒂𝒈. 𝑴𝒚 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒍 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒃𝒊𝒈𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝑰'𝒎 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒆𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒘𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕, 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒂 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒂𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒚 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒂 𝒈𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔.) 𝑰'𝒎 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒍𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒘𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝑰 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒎𝒚 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒍 𝒃𝒂𝒈. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝟏𝒔𝒕 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚-𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒚-𝒊𝒏-𝒕𝒉𝒆-𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒓 𝑰 𝒎𝒆𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒉𝒆 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒍𝒚 𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒓𝒐𝒑 𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇𝒇 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒔𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒚 𝒃𝒂𝒈 𝒘𝒂𝒔, 𝒉𝒆 𝒋𝒐𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅: "𝑬𝒎𝒎𝒂...𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒚 𝒎𝒆."😄 𝑰𝒕'𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒐 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒂 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒓𝒐-𝒍𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒓. 𝑰 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒇𝒇. 𝑰𝒇 𝒊 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒚𝒍𝒐𝒂𝒅 𝑰'𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒐𝒏-𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒌 𝒑𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒔 & 𝒗𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒔, 𝒅𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒈𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒔𝒖𝒊𝒕𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈. 𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒘𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎. 𝑰 𝒔𝒂𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒚 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑰 𝒘𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑽𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒌 𝒐𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒐𝒘𝒏, 𝑰 𝒍𝒂𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒈𝒏𝒊𝒛𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒆, 𝒕𝒐𝒐. 𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆.
𝑬𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑻𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒌𝒆𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒚𝒐𝒖 😄😄 𝑰 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝑵𝒆𝒑𝒂𝒍. 𝑰𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆, 𝑰'𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂 𝒑𝒉𝒐𝒕𝒐 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒚𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝒉𝒊 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒆. 𝑻𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝑰'𝒅 𝒃𝒖𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒇 𝑰 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅.😁 I found my favorite place in Bangkok8/10/2023 I sat here for an hour.
This is now my favorite place in Bangkok. If it wasn't for the uncushioned benches, I'd have stayed for hours. If you put a time lapse of me sitting there, You'd have seen hundreds of visitors passing by. And me a still image in the frame. There's no where like this, not even Tokyo: Furthest from the temple mount in the horizon is the long line of Skyscrapers Which are the makeup of Bangkok's expansive skyline. I wanted to see a skyline for the trip And there I got it at the golden temple mount. This view was incredible because Just beneathe my eyes, I could see at least 13 temple complexes. And then there are all the movements and goings-on within the temples and on the old Bangkok streets. I could see Everything. And I was observing all the activities in every crook and cranies. Birds were flying at my eye level or below; I could see prayer-makers directly down below at the foot of the hill, I could see people dining at a table under the canopy inside the biggest temple below; I could see a guard sitting on the narrow old Bangkok street side on a chair, If he didn't move his all-outstretched legs, His feet wouldve been ran over by cars; I saw girls doing different poses for the camera, and someone holding the phones; I could see burnt and abandoned buildings, I could see temples of other religions; After half an hour I started noticing the unique designs of some of the skyscrapers that I didn't see before. I sat for so long that the weather changed from ☁️ to 🌥️, the sky turned blue, The heat rose and wind blew the clouds sparse. Not even Tokyo has such clearly layered scenes, where there's a contrast of the business district in the great distance, Forming a skyline, And over here, an expanse of temples and old houses... It was so wonderful. It was amazing how peaceful I was despite all the noise there: The hundreds of small bells that hang on the roof top rang in the breeze; All the bigger louder bells being struck by people's hands as they go up and arriving on site; The stupid recitation on loud speakers by a man, ruining ; Ceaseless shaking sound of fortune sticks by different people... I wondered what they hoped for, And it reminded me of the film I saw on the plane. Where the protagonist Toru got a Great Luck, yet he passed away anyway... I wondered how people entrusted so much of their lives with the great beyond, and what their lives were like that dictated such faith. Amidst all the noise and chaos and passing people, I was so still, in complete contentment. Just sitting and staring as I can. If there ever was someone you know who is so much like a cat That'd be me. And funnily enough, The shirt dress I wore was covered with cats. You wouldnt be able to tolerate all this sitting and staring by me if you came along. I thought, only 1 being would be able to sit with me like this. That would be Binah. Binah would look at at first and I'd be holding her, Then she'd greet everybody that comes, wagging her tail at them, getting pets and possibly photos. Then when she's bored of all of that, She'd just lay next to me and nap. She wouldn't leave or complain. @EmmaRyokouFind me on: Archives
October 2023
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