Everybody had warned us against Thai people. They told us that Thai people try to take advantage of you as a tourist. Other than the questionable tuk tuk scam(?), we have found Thai people to be some of the most lovely, helpful, go-out-of-the-way people we've met. I would say I haven't met a people like them outside of the Irish.
Our Bangkok plan was a little thwarted when we decided to not go to the Grand Palace or any of the other main temples here. The Grand Palace is very near to where we are staying, so we can see it from across the park. It is really quite grand (from what we can see). The grounds are a minimum of 16 city blocks. Thai style gold gilded rooftops filled with ornamentation peak out from above the boundary wall. However, when we read the description and looked at online pictures, the Grand Palace didn't seem worth the $20 entry. Neither did any of the accessory temples for whatever fees they charged.
We sat around trying to find what we wanted to spend our time and money on instead. Bangkok is filled with activities, it's just hard to find the right one. We found it. We happened upon some article about a place called The Artist's House. It's tucked away in a quiet neighborhood in Bangkok, along a canal, where people live as they have lived for the past few hundred years. Judging by the lack of information on how to get their by public transportation, this seemed like a place that most backpackers and tourists don't visit. Plus, they have a traditional Thai puppet show performance at 2 p.m. The time when we made our decision to go here: 12:00 p.m.
We went to try to find the bus. I happily went to where I thought the bus stand stood (without confirmation or asking). We happily got on the bus and, after 10 minutes, I thought something didn't seem quite right. I asked the bus driver for our intended station - he, and every other person on the bus, told us to get off and get on the same bus number headed in the opposite direction. Well, no way would we make the puppet show now! So stupid!
We got on the correct bus and asked for our intended station. The conductor said he'd tell us when. As we traveled, the woman behind us asked for our station. We told her. When we reached the station, the conductor, the entire bus, and specifically, the woman behind us, told us to get off. The woman got off as well, and asked where we were going next. We told her in our best bad Thai. She not only figured out where we wanted to go, but she pulled over another mini bus, told the driver where to take us, and told us the price. Then she happily went on her way.
We stayed on the mini bus, again asked somebody in bad Thai where we wanted to go, and that person also helped u get off at the right place.
Finally, puppet show missed, but finally there, we came up and over a canal, into a quiet area, bordered by conjoined wooden houses. You just walked from one wooden house to another. As we walked, we passed locals feeding the fattest, most active catfish I have ever seen. A minimum of 50 catfish surfaced, gasping with mustached mouths at the food tossed towards them. I, of course, looked for fisherman and saw none! Why not? Not sure.
As we went along, we passed artists' house after artists' house, until we came to the one for which we had come. We had missed the puppet show, but one of the puppeteers still had a puppet on his hand for practice. From what I could see, Thai puppetry is a mix of dance and puppets. The puppeteer moves so gracefully, even without the puppet. Each step is choreographed from head to toe. It was amazing to watch. The puppets are about 3-4 feet tall. Slim with rods to control the movements. They are held much like Jim Henson's muppets (only without any hand up the back to control the mouth movement). I'm so glad we caught this guy's practice.
We then explored a bit more, took lots of pictures, and enjoyed the quiet and calm. This place has no tourists. People speak only broken basic English (at best). As we explored we came across a Buddhist temple, filled with monks. Sitting around. Reading a book. Sweeping the streets. Nobody else there. There is also a floating market that occurs in this area (probably on weekends, as it was empty when we arrived).
I didn't want to leave. Absolutely magical day in Bangkok. Exactly what we didn't know we wanted. Anybody can go and everybody has gone to the Palace. Very few have made it here.
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