THE BEAUTIFUL CITIES OF BANGKOK AND KOH SAMUI....
BANGKOK - KOH SAMUI from 21/04/00 to 03/05/00
21/04/00 my first time in the East
To be honest I was a po 'I was always skeptical beloved Caribbean, but on the advice of friends I wanted to try to change course and the East have gone east ..... and these countries have fascinated me as I would have ever thought. For the warm smiles and the availability of this people, to landscapes, for food, for their traditions and the beautiful things that I was able to bring home ...
BANGKOK in Thailand is also known by the name of Krungthep, or the city of angels. My first impact, however, was a chaotic city full of smog, with the leaden sky always, residential buildings and hotels giant incredible ...... the first day perhaps even for the tiredness of the journey I was completely disoriented.
But I must say it is incredible how it can change the atmosphere at any moment, turn the corner take a different path and you find yourself surrounded by unspoilt and collected. Just enter one of the 400 wat (temple-monastery) and as if by magic all the traffic chaos and confusion disappears and you are immersed in another world. The eyes are filled with colors, people in prayer, flowers and offers ... I visited the Royal Palace and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha and many other wat.
The oldest of the capital is the Wat Poh where Buddha is lying (or sleeping) is beautiful and huge and I do not have resisted the temptation to buy the coins to be put in jars in front of him. It buys a jar that contains a series of money and because your prayer is true you have to put one coin per pot and these must coincide exactly with the number of vessels along its entire length (which I think is 46 mt . in length and 15 meters in height.) practically non te ne should stay. Now I do not know if this is something truthful, I think that instead of bids being made by the faithful, but I have told this story and I so I will sell .....
I visited the floating market, and the flower market, in a profusion of colors and smells spicy.
I saw the kids dive from their homes floating in the river and make the bathroom fun. I was struck by the simplicity of the houses and notice that on almost every balcony were shown himself a multitude of pots with plants and flowers, sometimes very bare at times lush ....
I did a lot of shopping around on the streets and at major shopping centers in these places are worth starting with the empty bag and then build your wardrobe on the spot. It lies about everything, and more. I bought lots of photo albums made with rice paper and wood carved, true masterpieces, along with statues and batik, paintings and sarongs ...... I had to practically buy extra luggage to be able to carry everything home.
The thing that hurt me most in these places and especially in Patpong were the rooms where you exhibited a lot of young girls and very nice, and the multitude of men much older Europeans who behaved so vulgar and exaggerated. But you know, poverty is great and these girls are sold for little, and nothing ...... and this is a problem difficult to combat.
In BANGKOK I stayed there 3 days and then with an internal flight, I moved to KOH SAMUI. This beautiful island and its people have remained in my heart. I visited the aquarium and the Butterfly garden they deserve a break, coconut plantations and waterfalls inside the island, I went on the elephant and I were fighting with the monkeys ... spiteful things to do besides sunbathing There are, simply the desire to shoot .....
A KOH SAMUI is luxury from the coast you hundreds of euros per night for bungalow on the sea for a few coins. It is worthwhile to rent a car and turn the whole island in search of the place that you like. I was at PEACE BUNGALOW on Bo Phut beach, had a family and mamita has a particular sympathy for the Italians, so much so that strives to speak our language, was always ready to give you a smile and fresh coconut when returning from a 'trip ..... Every day, I asked what I wanted and I was preparing to eat the wonderful delicacies, then because he knew that I liked the pineapple it was always on my table, fresh cut and ready to eat. It 'an amazing woman .... The bungalows were very large and the ocean clean. Also on the beach there was a sweet girl who every day gave her massages, both on the beach and I must say that it was something mythical being soothed by the sound of the waves while you ONE massaged, or was even in the room if you preferred to have the coolness air conditioning, and all for a few coins.
The Peace Bungalow is an informal, for those who seek peace, to finally pull the plug from the Western world, to bring a good book and immerse themselves in reading, for those who do not want constraints dictated by fashion, because it can be wanting to stay in costume and pareo from morning to evening ...
You ate on a terrace facing the ocean in the distance and saw the Big Buddha, the sunsets were spectacular, when darkness descended the company you were the lights coming from the boats of fishermen .....
I do not want to go further, I was really good, and it is a place that I recommend with all my heart.