So about a month ago I returned from Hawaii and Thailand. First things first: beautiful. Glorious.
Second things second: a terrible person with weird reasoning blew up a temple that we stayed down the street from about a week after we left.
As an architect you may forget that buildings are secure but people can be the worst. For about a week I was in that weird place between grateful to be alive, angry the terrorism went down and freaked out in general.
I mean, we had just been there. Eating street satays outside of Wat Pho, walking by high-end malls and doing the typical things a tourist does in Bangkok. It just is strange when your passive enjoyment of a facsinating and beautiful city is seen as a political act.
But on a happier note: here's the recap.
Bang Pa In Summer Palace, a former residence of Thai kings, set around a lavish ornamental pond. If this beautiful palace reminds you a bit of 'The King and I', that's probably because it's the former home of Mong-Kut, King of Siam. There is a precision, tension and allusion everywhere, a palace that acts as the architectural translation of a monarch deciding how much he should alude to western power and cotton to Eastern Rivals. Don't watch the movie. It's simplisitc. Anna is condescending and lame. Though I do have a sore-spot for this part:
But I think that's a Yul Brenner thing. Oof.
Ayuthaya, this ancient city show the ruins of a past empire and bring up the many contradictions of Thailand. It is a culture of both peace and war, power and politeness. Growing up in DC, I know that feeling well. The red-stone ruins seem almost endless.
Erawan National Park, "So there I was, having just fallen the wrong way down a waterfall and was getting patched up by our trans tourguide..." For the record. That is how I would like every story I ever tell to start.Dude. Waterfalls. Waterfalls that are so beautiful they look fake. But when your twin brother goats you into going down one, remember 1. Avoid the rocks and 2. He has a camera.
Kanchanaburi and the Bridge on the River Kwai This was the part of the trip that got emotionally difficult. I was unaware of just how horrific the Death Railway of World War II had been. I mean, when you call something the "Death Railway" you know there will not be a picnic, but good God, it was crippling. At one point, walking through the Hellfire pass I just had to take my headphones off and just be sad. For more on this story, I recommend 'The Railway Man'
We then returned to Bangkok and I got a chance to go to Jim Thompson's house in Bangkok. Jim Thompson was one of those East Coast rich kids who wanted more. He became a foreign intellegence officer and fell in love with Thailand. After the war he established a silk company, built a gorgeous house across from his textile manfacturing plant, and then, in his 60's went for a walk in the woods and dissappeared. A strange man who led a fanastical life.
