Bangkok

Bangkok is another Asian city that seems to be at odds with itself, dragging its people and culture, rich in history and tradition, hell-bent down the slippery slope toward modernity. What you’re presented with as a visitor are contrasts and contradictions on every corner.

After breakfast this morning, I walked down to the (very grand) Grand Hyatt Erawan Hotel, just a few blocks away from the Four Seasons. At the intersection where the Hyatt stands is the Erawan Shrine. I tentatively entered the courtyard of the shrine and found an inconspicuous place to stand against an iron fence, and watched the crowds praying (trying my best not to look like a tourist). A vendor approached me and asked if I wanted to buy an offering. After politely declining to purchase a bundle of the nasturtiums he was selling, he began to tell me about the shrine. He explained that the Hyatt hotel was in fact, named after it. The shrine was built to appease the local spirit, Erawan, an auspicious Brahmin god, when serious problems kept developing during the construction of the hotel. Upon completion of the shrine the construction proceeded smoothly. The shrine is very well-known, drawing faithful believers from all over Asia. Erawan is apparently famous for granting wishes.

After breathing in a little too much incense, and not wanting to listen to anything further about the “powers” of a ceramic figurine, I thanked the man with my practiced Thai hand greeting and left the courtyard. Glancing up at the imposing façade of the Hyatt as I made my way back to my hotel, I thought again what a contrast it was to what I had just experienced. But then …… I remembered the men’s restroom I had used in the business class lounge at the airport a few nights previously. That was the epitome of contrast. Thanks to a colleague who is on the tour with me, who could also not believe his eyes, I’m able to post the picture below. Tacky? Most assuredly; but very like Bangkok.