099 - BANGKOK 03

Jim Thompson's House, Bangkok.

098 - BANGKOK 02

The Grand Palace, Bangkok.




This might be a complicated topic for some, I don't know. A long time ago, I had a conversation (or maybe I was just listening to him, but it felt like a conversation) with one of the best teachers I've ever had, about how, sometimes, despite being a convinced atheist he used to find a bit of calm and peace in the patios of those big mosques in High Asia when he was working there, joking about the strange ways we look for a bit of spirituality. I am also an atheist, what's more, structured religions scare the heck out of me, maybe, or despite (not sure yet), because I was raised in a catholic school. Which is curious because I received nothing but kindness from the nuns at my school despite the fact that my mum was divorced, and if you know anything about religion and spain, you'll know that, sometimes, that kindness is a rarity for a single mother. And, despite all those years of personal experience, I am a  firm non believer and usually, I look at churches, mosques and temples more with an historic, anthropologic, artistic and, not going to lie, ironic eye. Having said all that, I surprised myself by loving all the Buddha's faces, the kind smile usually brings me peace and I guess it's because kindness, in our world, is constantly underrated, when I firmly believe it shouldn't be. 

097 - BANGKOK 01

The Grand Palace, Bangkok.

I know that I repeat myself, but before landing in Bangkok, the only asian country I've ever visited was Japan, and while I knew, logically, mentally, that it wasn't the same at all, the reality of what encountered there was something completely and totally different of what I, more or less, imagined. Needless to say, shock, culture clash or whatever you want to call it made me fall sick after a few days of being there. Days when I've tried, without much success, battle the love of my korean roommates for leaving the AC at 19º, while I had the worse head cold I had in a long time. 

Moving around in Bangkok is never easy if you are used to a certain way of doing things and, yes, in hindsight, I realized how naive I was. But I learned I guess, even from that first day, in a crazy bus ride that per chance brought me to where I wanted to go, The Grand Palace. 

Thinking about all this, now, when I'm back, looking at all the photos that at I have now in my hands, after months of only having the rolls in a bag, is an strange experience. I know now, that my life is not here, that whatever I do, whatever path I take in the next months will lead me to a more gipsy existence, more insecure, more rewarding for me, less worried about things and material achievements… the form it will take is at the moment a mystery, but, I'll get there. One way or another.