October 31, 2017
After a morning and noon of Thai history and visa information, my group headed out on an excursion to a palace. It was around 3 or so and we had been rushed inside the compound which was the equivalent of two Disney kingdoms combined. Walls, roofs, and pillars were all adorned with countless amounts of gold, mother of pearl, sapphire and other gems. The streets were just as crowded with people from all across Asia and some western countries. I was having fun, not due to the sites in all honesty, but because of the conversation and other teachers I met. Some had gone on the same DIS program to Denmark as I had and it was fun sharing our experiences. Every now and then we’d get into a certain structure or two, but I realized as I took a couple photos that I couldn’t capture everything. There was just too much to behold and after a while, I ended up just relying on others to take pictures.
We were running behind to return to the hotel as there was a dinner cruise planned, so we were rushed out of the palace and to the streets. Conversation kept flowing, wonderfully joyous chats that casted bubbles of timelessness every so often. So much so, that I didn’t realize we had been waiting for two hours for the buses. One of the coordinators called us all together and announced that the traffic jam was prominent at this time so a tuk tuk or river taxi would be the fastest way to get back to our hotel in time for the cruise. If we waited, it would probably be another two or so hours to get back. So, realizing we would have to improvise, many of us decided on tuk tuks as we were unsure of where the river was, but 40 people (me included) decided we wanted to risk the river taxi and walked off towards where we thought the river was.
As we walked, I felt One Jump Ahead from the movie Aladdin come to mind. I’d listened to it for an hour the night before and was playing with the lyrics in my mind. I thought of the rush of improvisation and quick tact that was needed for Aladdin to make it in Agrabah and applied that to our current situation. Added to it was the adrenaline and rush that everyone voiced they felt as we walked into the unknown of the area, unsure if we were making the right decision but nonetheless, excited to be off the rails, so to speak, in what felt like an adventure no other group had experienced.
After 30 or so minutes we went down a narrow street and funneled towards the boats. At ฿3.50 it was quite the deal, so we started to pay and jump on. However, the boatmen began to rush us, twenty of us were on, then twenty-five, and suddenly we were off, leaving fifteen behind. We were all getting hyped, and were sure the others would find their way back. I began to smile wider and others shared my joy. Then suddenly, someone pointed out that we’d gotten on the wrong boat and would have to swap.
With the blood rushing, we weren’t nervous at all and asked people around us for directions in English with maps and pictures, fortunately we were all given the right instructions, so we jumped off at the next stop and got to another boat. It costed ฿15 and yet again as we were being rushed, we lost ten people. Dramatic hands reached out, everyone was laughing and exclaiming, even strangers were laughing with us. And as we went through some stops, we saw other members of our group frantically trying to get on which only added to the rush of this venture. Before our stop, I looked around the ship: new friends were laughing together, no one was left alone, the sun was a dark orange mirror, which we stared into happily. My day had been made and I knew everyone else felt the same.
So when we made it to the hotel and everyone looked at us, excited for the cruise, I shook my head, knowing that what we’d just done could not be beaten, at least not on the same day. And I know I wasn’t alone in saying that that adventure was WAY better than the palace itself, and the only pictures of the race back may have been the sunset, but even then, it was lived, not shot, and no one else could explain what had been felt. It took me an hour or so to calm down and get on the cruise, and twenty four for me to come up with the first verse of my Thai version of One Jump Ahead.
One jump ahead of the Tuk Tuk
Two steps, ahead of the Thai
I live by the mantra mai pen rai (it’s no problem)
Jeremy's LA 