After our first night of going out to experience Bangkok’s nightlife with some local NYC guys, we woke up out-of-it. We dragged ourselves to the pool area and enjoyed a delicious breakfast together. Everything seemed a bit off until we ordered a light cocktail and things were back to normal 😉
Today, we made a plan to take the Siam Hotel river boat to the center of town to do some sight seeing temple visiting and shopping. As New Year’s eve was tonight, we also had to finalize our outfits, which we decided on black and white. We took the boat to the center of town and were let off right into an outdoor market. Everything was available for purchase. From nail file sets to fried chicken. And we indulged in both. We were by the main temple of the city, and got very overwhelmed. Too many tourists, too many people moving about. I made eye contact with this nice Thai man on the street who asked if we needed help. Normally, I would roll my eyes and walk away, but we really wanted some direction. He set us up with a tuk-tuk (makeshift Thai taxi) to take us around Bangkok to the major sites for the next 2 hours for only 60 baht! We visited beautiful temples and shrines including the ornate Wat Intharawihan. I prayed in my own way. In between temples, we ate the crispiest fried chicken you could immagine!
We then found ourselves in a silk and gem gallery tourist trap. We found out later that the tuk-tuk drivers get paid to bring tourists to these places, even if they dont buy anything. I then realized that the man who helped us was probably the tuk-tuk pimp, and he gets a cut of it all.
At the end of our tour, Josh turns to me and says lets start heading back, WE MUST GET BACK- ITS A SURPRISE. On our way to the boat, we stopped to have delicious brocolli and chicken lunch, made fresh on the street and some pad thai. wow– this was the best Thai meal I have ever had and for only about $2, including two cokes!
We headed back to the hotel and we met the general manager of the Siam in the lobby along with one of his staff members. They were holding medical kits and beautiful flowers, a type of orchid or hydrangea. There were 9 kits and 9 flowers. We proceeded to walk down the street from the hotel to a dirt road. It was a small local temple and we were about to give an offering to the temple. We walked behind a few alleys, behind some temples and found 9 Buddhist munks waiting for Josh and I.
While we were on our knees on front of the monks, Josh says to me… Dane, we are here to have our relationship blessed, the first gay blessing at this temple. It was a moving experience. We followed the procession directions and the monks started to chant deeply. We are basically getting married, the Buddhist way… In Thailand. We gave gave each of the monks our offerings and rotated from monk to monk and looked into their eyes and saw pure nobility. During the chanting I felt my late grandmother’s spirit who just passed away a few weeks ago. Our noses were dripping. The energy filled the room and I began to cry. Thinking of my dear grandmother and how she made it possible for me to experience this moment and all of the experiences of my life made me weak and humble. The monks then splashed us with water and blessed us with yellow bracelets, which are still affixed to our wrists today.
Josh and I headed back to the hotel with a new sense of cleanliness and honor and got ready to welcome the new year together, as one unit, stronger and more confident than ever before. This experience made me realize that religion certainly puts constraints on everything we do or dictates how we should act or feel. Buddhism is based on love and karma, and that everyone is equal. Would a hassidic rabbi bless our relationship or a high priest? Most probably not, but these monks who have dedicated their lives in the purest form, welcomed us with open arms, regardless of who were were or what our desires were; we are individuals who want to make a positive influence in the world. And this thought alone, was paramount.