I sometimes wonder how many pictures I must be in taken by people I don't know. Today was a busy day of trying to do all the main tourist attractions. This included at least one wardrobe change before we left the hostel. Even though it was 90 degrees with 90% humidity The Grand Palace doesn't allow shorts or bare shoulders, which I suppose makes sense since it's a royal palace and all. They do, however, allow tour guides to wander around with stuffed animals on sticks as they led herds of tourists carrying umbrelas into each photo opportunity. My confused face will likely be showing up in so many different photos of the royal lawn or whatever. After getting into line and then realizing that everyone had already bought tickets to get in, we decided it was too hot and too crowded to really enjoy, so we wandered off to our next destination.
It's strange to think that even in a strange place there are very familiar things. Things you wouldn't even think about. Stop signs are the same shape and color here, with only the word 'Stop' being different. Traffic markers are all relatively the same, which makes me wonder who started what and who decided that was the best way to go about it. Apparently the yellow dashed line means it's legal to pass and the double yellow line means it's illegal, which stops no one. I don't know what I was expecting. It's not like we traveled to Mars, where the people here decided to just skip all the widely accepted rules. Although it makes me wonder if someday we do come into contact with an alien species, who will adopt the most from the other. Will we see what they're doing and suddenly realize that the bike lane has been this ludacrious experiment that has been doomed from the start?
Traveling through the various markets it occurs to me just how hard it must be to make a living. I've been very spoiled in my life in that I've always been lucky enough to have a job that doesn't require me to try and sell things. Convincing someone that they need something has always been a tricky task. It's probably even harder when ten feet away someone else is selling that "ancient" Buddha coin necklace for 10 Baht and you want 15. I sometimes wish that everyone had some kind of low level telepathy or maybe empathy. That way you could at least understand where the other person is coming from when you interact with them. The problem with not speaking the language is that it's hard to know what the intention is with someone else. Are they being nice because they are nice or are they being nice because they know you have money and respond better to a smile and friendly advice? I think I've seen too many strange movies where there are ulterior motives for everything and everyone. Maybe most people are what they show on the surface and it's safe to accept that as the truth. So far it seems to be that they are simply being nice because they are so I suppose it should just be accepted.
Tomorrow we're off to an island for a Full Moon Festival.. It will be nice to actually get out of the big crazy city and start the real vacation. I feel like this place has been an interesting gateway to this whole adventure, but it's not what I've been looking forward to. That's somewhere else.
