words from the world

What a pleasure to burst in on the Khao San Road, heaven for backpackers of every kind. Even if some people will prefer other less noisy and less colourful streets. That's here, a few years ago, I started my first trip with a rucksack and I fell in love with this way of life. This fantastic sensation of feeling a total freedom on the route, choosing a hostel for its style or its location and not because we have to. And Thailand is such an easy country to travel in that it was and still remains the perfect destination for a first nomadic trip. Even if the Thailand's ease of access and low-cost prices bring some disadvantages, beginning with the mass tourism which spoils a lot of places. We loose the serenity of the beautiful sand beaches we like to walk on, the feet into the water.




I meet Armelle after more than 2 months and it started to be long. We go for a stroll onto the Thonburi canals. Departure from the Chao Phraya bank by long-tail boat. A slender, colourful boat, powerfully propelled by a truck engine and terribly noisy, snakes onto the narrow canals. Houses on stilts and aquatic plants square the twists of this district off that locks protect from the Chao Phraya flood.








Before going back to the bank we started from 2 hours before, we visit the Wat Arun.



As we get back, we stop at the Wat Pho whose temple harbours a gigantic Buddha that lyes on his right side. Innumerable leaves of gold wholly cover the lying statue. We go round the gilded colossus and a row of metallic bowls resonate with the falls of coins followers throw in each one of them.







The architecture of the religious and official buildings has the distinctive feature of being tremendously wrought and ornated with vivid colours. Most of the buildings are wholly or partially decorated with these leaves of gold ; the sunbeams ricochet off and splash us. That's the way the Wat Phra Kaeo, king's palace, gives out its multi-hued, shining beams in the central district of Bangkok and attracts a crowd of tourists eager for oriental curiosities.