Sitting in the taxi, I wonder if what just happened actually happened. The burning on the back of my neck, unfortunately, confirms that it’s all real.
On my phone, I look at the picture the taxi driver took of me right before I went in: on my neck, there’s the Gao Yord tattooed. The driver, who knows these symbols very well, explains its meaning to me: it represents the nine peaks of the sacred Mount Meru, symbol of the nine stages of spiritual ascent toward enlightenment. Each peak stands for a step in the spiritual journey, and the tattoo is meant to remind me to face difficulties in order to get closer to perfection.
He also tells me that, for it to bring luck, I have to follow some very specific rules:
- I can no longer have sex
- I can no longer do drugs
- I can no longer drink alcohol
- I can no longer hug a woman if she’s on her period (I have to ask first if she’s menstruating)
- I can’t sit on a ceramic toilet, especially if it’s cracked or damaged
- I can’t cross a bridge if there’s a duck on it
- Other rules I don’t even remember
Let’s just say some of these rules are going to make my life pretty difficult. Take, for example, the ban on crossing a bridge with a duck on it. How could I ever live without that possibility?
Sure, I do have a few doubts about the logic behind these rules, but who am I to judge? And how could I ever truly understand their deeper meaning? I don’t belong to this religion, so I can’t really know.
I go back to the city. Tonight I’m leaving, but first I’ll stop by Bangkok’s Chinatown to buy the last gifts and souvenirs for friends and family. Meanwhile, the new tattoo burns like hell. I need to disinfect it, just like the other one. I end up in the public toilets of Chinatown. Using toilet paper to clean myself, I disinfect my tattoos with hand sanitiser while looking at myself in a mirror, so dirty that I can barely see my reflection. The cleaning lady notices that I’m suffering and crying desperately and offers to help me. I realise I’m in the lowest, most degrading situation I’ve ever experienced.
