If R has one thing going for her, it's an uncanny sense of timing. (If I do say so myself!) We arrived at the Indigo Pearl amidst a huge crowd in the lobby, but thankfully, the beauty queens were on their way out, and the patrons became very sparce during our (anti-social) visit. Then, although our stay had seemed too short, we ended up traveling through Suvarnibhumi International Airport in Bangkok a mere 2.5 hours before it was stormed and shut down by anti-government protesters last night. K is now safely and sleepily rolled in a blanket on the chaise on this cold, stormy Seattle day, trying not to pout that we didn't get stranded in Bangkok.
Thailand is in a difficult way, politically. The government is clearly corrupt, a puppet for a rather megomaniacal profiteer, yet it has been elected and re-elected by a majority of voters, and really is serving the poor in significant ways. The "People's Alliance for Democracy" opposition, however, is decidedly UNdemocratic, and is trying to play off the non-governmental monarchy against the elected officials and trigger a coup. Neither side is easy to support, and both sides are getting violent, with people actually using the term "civil war" now -- certainly not a prospect most people would usually consider for this country of peaceable people.
Ah, but for those last few days we were surrounded by the privileged foreigners, in an idyllic paradise and our travel arrangements worked like clockwork! It was so bizarre, but if you're going to be sick, it's good to be "rich" even if only for a few days. The thing we noticed about being rich and privileged, though, is that it really leads to a lack of imagination. No wonder some rich people get obsessed with power! It's one of the few challenges left. They are surrounded by people -- servants and syncophants -- who are constantly thinking creatively about how to meet the rich person's every need and desire. The privileged person does not have to think at all, let alone exercise the necessary human faculty for creative problem solving. It's great to be privileged when you are too sick to think, though, and we were very grateful for our few days in a bastion of jet setters.
Here are some photos from our last days of luxury...
The lobby where we waited for the beauty queens to check out:
Scantily clad beauty queen getting up from our lounging couch. I'm sure we ruined her necessarily photogenic atmosphere... hehehe!
Our room. Very industrial and chic. But the best part was when the staff came in the evenings to light the aromatherapy jar (jasmine) and bring a fresh mosquito coil. Not that this place had many mosquitos, despite all the ponds.
K loved the bathroom with it's glass wall to the rest of the room and the windowed wall out to the private patio.
She also loved the bolted toilet paper holder (they don't usually use tp in Thailand, they use a little hose -- that shows how foreigner-oriented this place is. That, and the soft feather beds! We kind of missed the hose, though.)
The pools and beaches were lovely. Yes it was cloudy most of the time -- still rainy season there, but that kept us from getting sunburnt, so we were happy!
It's not a vacation until K gets her foofy drink on the beach.
While some people find that they can't drink alcohol anymore after dengue, K found that for her, alcohol seemed to have no affect at all anymore. Once a one-drink cheap date, she kept trying different drinks throughout our last day there, but stayed sober as a judge. Very strange, but as Dengue side effects go, this is one of the best!
Other views around the grounds:
The Tin Mine Syndicate Pub -- very hip circulation system!
Ah, so happy!
Labels: home, travel
