Amidst the Chaos I found my own voice

by Nivedita Biswal (India)

I didn't expect to find Thailand

I always had this knack for travelling into the offbeat/unknown places during my journeys. Similar case happened while I was finalising my trip to Thailand. I remember very clearly when I was going through places to see on the Thailand Tourism Website, I came across Chachengsao(it's a small town in Central Thailand). Somehow, a gorgeous Buddhist temple surrounded by a river appealed to me and I had my heart set on it to incorporate this in my itinerary. The picture of this place, on the website itself, had made some sort of connection with me. I spent some time at the over touristy and noisy destination's of Thailand before making my way to Chachengsao. I did not know much about this town and there was this obvious curiosity of what I will get to see, will I find Indian food, local connectivity, transportation, ease of communication etc. Even people in Bangkok were not much aware about this small little town and gave me curious look's as to why did I choose this place in Thailand to travel ,over the well known choices of tourists like Phuket, Pattaya, Krabi etc. Chachengsao is around 2 hours away from Bangkok. I took a cab to reach the place as travelling by cab, to and fro seemed cheap and feasible. I had booked a Resort near the river bank, which when upon the first look gave me that soothing peace which I had been searching for. After freshening up, I decided to explore the town. My first stop was a beautifully carved Buddhist temple which was located near the river bank known as the Wat Saman Rattanaram. Gorgeous interiors, precisely done exteriors, people flocking in silence to offer prayers at the golden Buddha statue. After many days, I had felt a sense of calmness, belongingness within myself. The temple had this charming positive vibe, which radiated a lot to me. I could hear my inner voice and suddenly every little clutter of my heart became clear. I remember vividly of sitting at that place for 3 hours and trying to understand what my purpose of life was? After that I went to see some local markets nearby. I could see women sewing flowers together to offer at temple, people selling food stuffs freshly made from home, quaint little shop selling colourful sushi for 5 bhat, women selling freshly baked cakes, smiling men who offered you fish fry and huge colourful omelette, an old lady trying to settle her unruly dog, small kids holding the hands of their parents and haggling over a small toy, colourful clothes trying to find their way to the wardrobe and lot more. The shopkeepers did not expect you to pay penny and it was completely okay not to buy the goods. But they smiled and did offer you very sweetly to try the food whether it was crispy pancakes, sweet banana fitters or fish pickle. The only language visible amongst us was the language of love. For a moment the communication barrier,connectivity, posh urban life, hypocrisy of people was wiped away from my mind seeing their innocent, hard working faces. For the first time, post my heartbreak I had found peace, away from so much disorder of my life at a small little place. With all the negativity surrounding my life since past few years, I finally had my moment at this place which gave me so much of love and homely feeling. I remember wanting to stay and never to return from this fairyland, which has still not opened to the turmoil of the touristy trap and hence has retained it's Cinderella dreams, tucked away in some high tower showering all it's love and radiations which can be a boon for humankind. I fell in love with the unknown and it's that magical moment of the place which will remain etched in my heart forever. Penning down thoughts on Chachengsao has been heart stirring, sitting on the banks of Bang Pakong River, I had known myself, travelled down the lesser roads,smiled at unknown places who equally smiled back and and finally I had found me.