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The first thing I do when I move into a new hotel room is to check out the view.

Thailand and Cambodia 2000 - Part One - Bangkok & Siem Reap

Dougburnett
2003-11-22 17:55:13

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stop at one of the outside bars for a beer, but I found the whole thing just too sleazy: the push touts, the desperate-looking girls and all the fat, middle-aged white guys. I couldn't bear it.

I left and continued souvenir shopping in the surrounding area - all the streets seemed to be lined with stalls selling everything a tourist could possibly want: laser pointers, fighting knives and counterfeit-brand watches and shirts. Finally I tired of the whole tourist/sex business and headed back toward to my hotel. On the way I found a quiet, outside bar. I sat down and ordered a Singha beer. The night was balmy and I sat writing in my journal for awhile.

Later, near my hotel, I stopped to watch a movie. Someone had stretched a white screen across one of the narrow lanes and they were projecting an action, shoot-em-up movie on it. You could watch it from either side of the screen. There were families of Thai sitting in chairs or standing around eating corn-on-the-cob - it was a drive-in movie, Thai-style.

Back at my hotel I heard music coming from the temple and decide I had better check it out. I found the stage was now lit up and a Chinese opera was going on. There were maybe 5 or 6 musicians in the wings and about 6 or 8 actors. I don't know if you have ever seen or heard a Chinese opera, but the music in more percussive than melodic and reminds me, at times, of falling pots and pans. It's used mostly to punctuate the dramatic action. The singing has a nasally, whiny quality and the actors movements are stiff and stylized. I find it interesting for short periods, but feared this one might go on for quite a while.

The temple itself was a buzz with activity: offerings were being made and candles were being lit but strangely no one was watching the opera. The area in front of the stage was completely empty. It was like the opera was being performed for the same invisible ...