~this place of peace~

Saturday, 27th January 2001

travelling means moving ~

it means to pack and unpack one's backpack time and again, to find one's ways through new cities, to make plans, to shift them, to change them. to some degree, you start from scratch in every new place you visit. new guesthouse, new restaurant, new day, new horizon. it's exhilarating, and at the same time exhausting.

Friday evening i arrived in Bangkok. yesterday i visited the Golden Palace, Chinatown and Lumphini Park. today is the first day that i don't feel like taking taxis, seeing sights, walking ways. the mere thought of browsing through Bangkok makes me cringe. i need some time off, a midday siesta, an afternoon nap, some soul food.

it's good that i am in the right place for this: the Shanti Lodge. a friend suggested to stay here, to choose this place from the zillion of guesthouses Bangkok has to offer. "It's near the National Library," he explained. "Just get there and ask the folks around."

it sounded so easy. arriving at the Northern Bus Terminal i learned that the reality was slightly more difficult. the first task: finding a bus that stopped at the National Library. the second task: finding someone in the bus who spoke English, knew the National Library, and thus could tell me when we reached it.

but it was worth the searching. the Lodge turned out to be a little oasis in the jungle of streets and houses. the restaurant has great food, there is world music playing, and there is an open sitting area behind, with palm tress and a little fish pond. upstairs, an open library and a reading room. a place to relax, a micro cosmos in a side street of this mega city.

just a street further: a jetty of the Chao Phraya River Express. the best way to get around Bangkok is by boat, i learned: instead of traffic jams, great views of the city, and some sense of orientation. first i only wanted to walk to the jetty, to get a view. but then, when the boat came, i couldn't resist, and so i bought a ticket, hopped on the boat and went for a little stroll (or rather: sat for a little stroll)

it really makes such a difference, the place you stay.

in the evening, a little surprise.
"You know what Shanti means?" Nora, another guest at the Lodge asked, while we share a table for dinner.
i shook my head. i had thought of the word as a name, not as a noun
"It means peace," she explained.
how appropriate, i thought. to be guest in a place of peace. and also appropriate that this place isn't the easiest to find.

vibes~~
Do

see the travel pictures: journey
read the next diary entry: Ao Nang Beach - reflections on life

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