Week 5: I Got Sick, but Then I Got to Go to Thailand
Well, I finally got sick.
On Monday, we went to Beihai Park to see if there were any Dragon Boat festivities going on—there weren’t, but we got to explore the park more and took the ferry across the lake, so it was still a great time! I started feeling ill while we were there, but I thought it was from climbing up to the White Dagoba in 100º heat. However, after three days of being bedridden, barely conscious, and exhibiting all of the other lovely symptoms of food poisoning, I’m now blaming the chestnuts from the Night Market. I can’t blame the Night Market itself because I am going back for those scorpions regardless, so I’m blaming the only thing I ate that Delia really didn’t. Unfortunately, I was not able to go to work those three days, so I don’t have any work stories to tell this week. Although, Anna was back from her trip, and she did kindly offer to take me to the hospital.
Yesterday morning (at 2:45am!), we left for the airport. Because we have tourist visas, we can only stay in China for sixty days at a time before we have to leave the country and reenter, so we decided earlier this semester to go to Bangkok around the middle of our stay, which was basically our cheapest option. I’ve also always wanted to visit Thailand, so win-win. I still wasn’t feeling 100%, so the hours spent at the airport and on the plane weren’t the most comfortable, but I do have to say that the flight attendants on our Thai Airways flight were wonderful. Actually, all of the Thai people that we’ve met so far have been very gracious, helpful, and friendly (someone actually offered us a seat on the subway today, which would never happen in Beijing let alone anywhere in the U.S.). We took the train from BKK airport in Bangkok and then the BTS Sky Train to our Airbnb. The trip only cost us each about $3.13. When we arrived, I was groggy and hot (it was about 95º yesterday, which is about the same temperature as Beijing right now, but it is much more humid here). We’re staying at an Airbnb apartment for $26.00 a night, and it is perfect. I went to the pool located on the fifth floor balcony of our building soon after we got here, fell asleep on a lawn chair, came back inside and fell asleep again. We went to a little restaurant/pub near our apartment in the evening, and I have to admit to you all that my first meal in Thailand was a burger and fries. But it was my first full meal in days, and it seemed like the best meal of my life.
Today, I woke up, and I felt… normal. Finally! After a late start, we took the Sky Train to Saphan Taksin, and from there we took a boat down the Chao Phraya River to Wat Arun, or Temple of Dawn. After we explored this beautiful temple (pictures below), we took the ferry across the river to another famous temple, Wat Pho, the Temple of Reclining Buddha. Reclining Buddha is enormous, which I hope you can tell from the picture! Next, we walked to the Grand Palace, where we met Tawee, who was our extremely helpful and informative tour guide. He walked us through the palace grounds, educating us on the history of Buddhism, current beliefs and practices, and the history of the palace. Wat Phra Kaew, Temple of Emerald Buddha, is also located on the palace grounds. Tawee informed us that the Emerald Buddha was carved out of a single piece of green jade, which is difficult to tell from the picture I took, but we weren’t allowed to take pictures inside many of the temples in the Grand Palace. Before entering all of the these temples, we had to remove our shoes, and our legs and shoulders had to be covered. Tawee told us an interesting fact about Thai Buddhist monks: if they wear brown robes, they’re vegetarians; if they wear orange robes, they can eat meat. We ended the day with dinner at a Thai seafood restaurant and a ride on the Ferris wheel at Asiatique. Tomorrow is supposed to be stormy, so we are probably going to check out the shopping mall, and then I need to continue working on the memo for Director Tong. After this week, I have some catching up to do!
