The second day was more relaxing and enjoyable, a complete foil from the intense first day. Bangkok is the shopping heaven, but other Thai tourist towns are not far off. Needless to say, a lot of shopping was done, filling the travel bag to the brim. For once, thousands seemed to disappear without a moment's bother. That I already had a closset full of T-shirts didn't seem to matter. And the shopping stretches and malls seemed to go on and on. Strangely though, it doesnt take a toll on the body, even after roaming about a dozen streets and a two-mile long beach road to and fro, going in and out of shoe shops at every corner in search of that elusive pair, visiting a T-shirt centre, a cashewnut factory, honey preparation centre and a local handicraft showroom. At Phuket, its all in a day's work! Where else in the world would you find a sound and light laser show based on a water fountain (akin to the one at Sentosa, Singapore and Petronas Towers, KL) to describe the rich history of... a shopping mall! Visit Jungceylon and you would even find an art and culture show in the midst!
That brings me to the other highlight of the day, the cultural awareness of Thailand's rich heritage. Having a non-stop chatterbox as a guide helps. The ties with India and China is unmistakeable in this pristine city. The culture is a rich blend of Chinese acumen and Indian exotism, intricately fabricated with local flavour. The King's name (Rama IX) reflects the Indian touch. Yellow colour that is associated with his birth on a Monday revolves around Chinese beliefs. That the whole of Thailand wears yellow on every monday is the local spice. Beautiful!
Buddha is a common deity here, and the famous monks are waxed in memories and memorials. Even Brahma and Vishnu are worshipped here, although they are also called "Buddha" in local households. The architecture is a mix of Indian "viharas" and Chinese "dragon" toppings and Srilankan interiors. The gardens outside the temple resembled the grandeur of Budh Gaya, while the garlanded elephants and continuous burst of firecrackers almost brought me back home. Folklore associated with the temple are distinctively Chinese, with anti-black magic and immortalising inscriptions on a white cloth tied to the forehead of the local villagers gave them the might to fight off the invading Chinese. Exhillarating stuff!
Back to food. Jubiliant from yesterday's dinner, I was bolder to try out some other Indian joint. There are a heck of a lot of Indian food options here at the beach road at Patong. After vain attempts at locating one led to a dead-end (literally), and some rather "interesting" paintings and sculptures of the human body, I got lured into an Indian joint at a fog end of a lane of restaurants. Seeing beautiful looking scantilly dressed women all day long does affect the cognitive abilities of a man. Although I did notice that there were no other customers there, I didn't turn back. Half an hour later, I came out of there with a nauseating feeling and desperately drowned a McCafe and an icecream to mask it. Worst spend of the day. There are definitely two sides to the coin that you toss over at the food joints. Seafood and Thaifood is everywhere on the streets, with every possible sea creature on display. Today, I saw culture amongst chaos. Heritage couldn't hide more old caucasian men with beer on one hand and young asian woman on the other!
Random Access
The search has just begun !!!
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