{"id":3433,"date":"2012-05-27T22:19:32","date_gmt":"2012-05-27T15:19:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/?p=3433"},"modified":"2012-05-27T22:50:24","modified_gmt":"2012-05-27T15:50:24","slug":"rashomonic-pretensions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/2012\/05\/27\/rashomonic-pretensions\/","title":{"rendered":"Rashomonic Pretensions"},"content":{"rendered":"

[dc]O[\/dc]h boy, this could be very interesting! But it\u2019s gonna require your help\u2026 Commenter Lindsay asks<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

Would you mind sharing with me a few of your most killer durian experiences?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Lindsay and her partner Rob maintain the Year Of The Durian<\/em> blog<\/a>, FYI. This set me to thinking, let\u2019s have a little Rashomonic experiment, here, concerning the most infamous event in my fledgling Durian-eating career.<\/p>\n

Aside: Rata tells me she\u2019s been referring to me, when I\u2019m not around, as \u201cThe Durian Master\u201d \u2013 good lord, would that I could live up to such a lofty and noble epithet! Nobody but nobody<\/em> who skips days of consumption right in the heart of the season, over such a stupid little humbug as \u201cI got fat\u201d, deserves to be considered anything even resembling<\/em> a Durian Master.<\/p>\n

So here\u2019s the deal. About 90% of the readers of this blog were present and counted on that fateful day, Thanksgiving 2008, when all Durian Hell did break loose. How if you all e-mail me your recollections of said fateful day, and I\u2019ll post the results? We\u2019ll see what sort of consensus \u201ctruth\u201d emerges concerning the day\u2019s events\u2026or not.<\/p>\n

Doesn\u2019t have to be anything fancy \u2013 just a paragraph or two should suffice (more if you want to, though!). Of course, I\u2019ll be participating as well. Don\u2019t stress out over it, just jot down your memories. Importantly, though: don\u2019t consult with each other before nor during the composition. As importantly, don\u2019t be all poopin\u2019 on the party, or poor Lindsay\u2019s a-gonna be left hanging. You don\u2019t want that on your conscience, do you?<\/p>\n

So here\u2019s to it! If you were there, send me your story. Best to do it as soon as you\u2019ve read this little entreaty, so as you shan\u2019t forget about it altogether. I\u2019ll not use anybody\u2019s names; but feel free to attach a picture if you like.<\/p>\n

[dc]S[\/dc]o that\u2019s that. Now<\/em>, you wanna talk \u201cLove\/Hate\u201d: that\u2019s me and Chiang Mai, knob to eleven.<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m so in love with the temples here! More than I even remembered, I mean \u2013 though, of course, it was these very same temples which originally lit the spark that has become my burning-out-of-control templemaniacal passion.<\/p>\n

What I now, upon returning, realise is that Chiang Mai\u2019s temples are a categorical breed apart from the temples I\u2019ve visited in Bangkok, Luang Prabang, Siem Reap, and elsewhere. While these last are certainly very beautiful, and great fun to visit, that\u2019s really about all<\/em> they are.<\/p>\n

Even such a stunning and unique temple as Bangkok\u2019s Wat Arun, for example, doesn\u2019t really reach<\/em> me; doesn\u2019t really say<\/em> anything to me.<\/p>\n

Chiang Mai\u2019s, other hand, are somehow something much more than a pretty face. To be sure, they\u2019re (to mine eyes) collectively the more beautiful than any other cities\u2019.<\/p>\n

\"temple1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"temple2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"temple3\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"temple4\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"temple5\"<\/a><\/p>\n

But it\u2019s when the helpless farang enters one of these hallowed halls that the transfixion truly works its magic. What is it, this compulsion? What reduces farang to a slack-jawed puddle of incredulity? Why does farang stand for minutes, gaping in amazement at the temple\u2019s shrine as though the latter had just landed from Planet Moon, demanding, \u201cTake me to your leader\u2019s leader’s leader, bitch\u201d? What is this spell, this web the temple has woven?<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t know! I should guess it has something to do in some combination with the temples\u2019 architectural design (somehow more \u201cairy\u201d than temples elsewhere), the materials used in construction, the beautiful and slightly longing traditional music playing in many of them, the temples\u2019 age (up to 700 years old!), and what\u2026?<\/p>\n

These qualities are not peculiar to Chiang Mai\u2019s temples, however. So perhaps it\u2019s something in the water, or some pact with the long-theorised “evil” one, or some other unknowable factor. Whatever it is, the fact remains: Chiang Mai\u2019s temples touch farang very deeply indeed.<\/p>\n

One may recall that during my last visit here, in January, I had sung the praises of Chiang Mai\u2019s aroma \u2013 later to consider Phimai\u2019s to be a pretty close contendah. But lo, the special admixture of Thai cooking and the omnipresent waft of lit incense, it doesn\u2019t seem to carry through to slow season. It can still be found, here and about. But not, alas, in its earlier ubiquity.<\/p>\n

So maybe Chiang Mai\u2019s title as reigning champeen of the scent must redound, during the less-touristic months, to the unlikely little burg of Phimai, Khorat Province.<\/p>\n

I also love the town\u2019s vaguely anti-authoritarian atitude, hanging there in the air; somewhat subtle, though always present. Chiang Mai feels kind of like Thailand\u2019s Austin, Texas in this regard.<\/p>\n

But mostly \u2013 again, as noted during my previous visits \u2013 it feels like a little miniaturised Los Angeles. It\u2019s got the traffic from Hell and back, it\u2019s got the hills and mountains, it\u2019s got the smog, it\u2019s got the sprawl. It\u2019s even got the New Age hippie vibe. Huhn, guess the only bit missing would be an ocean.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the god damned motorised transport, I tell you.<\/p>\n

Chiang Mai had a beautiful soul, once. This is so apparent, even now. Even after the fucking traffic has rent its soul; if not destroying it totally, then packing it away in a most-unreachable place. The motor-car (and its even-more-evil two- and three-wheeled kin), along with the paved byways upon which they travel, have combined to murder Chiang Mai\u2019s once-beautiful soul.<\/p>\n

O Chiang Mai! For you do I weep.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[dc]O[\/dc]h boy, this could be very interesting! But it\u2019s gonna require your help\u2026 Commenter Lindsay asks: Would you mind sharing with me a few of your most killer durian experiences? Lindsay and her partner Rob maintain the Year Of The … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture","category-durian"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3433"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3433\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}