The Temple of Truth

The Temple of Truth

The Temple of Truth is an impressive, cathedral like temple on the outskirts of the seaside resort of Pattaya. Completely made of wood,not a nail in sight.

I struggled with my dish of Phad Thai in a small open fronted restaurant near the wooden temple that juts into the sky. A glass case containing noodles and offal fronted the entrance of the eatery, adjacent a wooden chopping block had an evil looking meat cleaver embedded. Offal,noodles and Singha beer, Thai style. My companion,Nong,an appetite,a bottomless pit, as she tucked into a second helping of some strange creature and rice. Nong watched me play with the noodles.
Nong starts to give me odd looks.
“You look like James Bond!”
“No I don’t, I look like the other bloke. The one from London,who wears glasses.”
“Yeah, James Bond!”
I roll my eyes.
"You want to eat ant eggs ?Aloy, mark mark." She asked.
I raised my eyebrows and blew out cheeks.
"No thanks Nong I'm not hungry right now. What does aloy mean?"
"It mean tasty, ant eggs are tasty, them do with garlic." She screwed up her brow.
Yum, yum thought I, the Beluga Caviar market had better watch out for competition.
“Thanks for the offer Nong.” I continued to poke my noodles around the plate.
Chop, thud, chop,thud, I watched the lady cook fiercely attacking a pig's stomach on the chopping block.
"All the King's horses, and all the King's men, couldn't put Humpty back together again." I said in a quiet half voice.
"Jeembo, allo Jeembo my friend, you dreamin' ? Who Humpty ? Why you King not put together? Mai khao jai - not understand."
"It's a song young children at school learn, nonsense really." The meat cleaver attacked the offal again.
"Why you teach school children nonsense ?Farang school crazy, Thailand better."
Thud, the cook then proceeded to chop up a boiled pig's face into fatty slices.
Nong's phone started to play ‘Welcome to the Hotel California’. She answered it immediately. "Ka, ka, ka, ka. Good, OK ka!"
“OK my sister arrive, she is a great guide, we go to the temple now.”
I gazed at the huge magnificent wooden structure before me, an explosion of carving and angles trying to reach the heavens.
“Joop, Joop, I want kiss please,” said Nong.
You are a funny fish, young lady.

The loud alarm bell broke the dream,it was a cold wet early morning in London. I had to go to work for another day of drudgery.
Oh for another dream in Thailand, and a kiss from someone special.

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