Yvette (Fan Girl) and I are getting ready to depart Bangkok via overnight train. We stayed in a swanky condo last night 25 floors up above bustle of the street. The AC and a shower do wonders to combat humidity. Fan Girl is now also Phone Girl as she has procured a Nokia with SIMM card for our use. She gave me a lesson in texting, and I keyed in almost successfully the message “I don’t text” Except that the “smart” language feature had me saying things like “I donut …”
One of my quirky highlights was watching the parking lot by the weekend market in Bangkok. It appears that everyone who doesn't get a diagonal pull in spot just double parks and leaves their car locked but in neutral. When someone wants to get out you see about 5 or 6 cars being rolled forwards or backwards to try and create a gap to exit.
I was quite delighted to find baby corn (on the cob). I knew it had to exist somewhere outside a can, and here in Chiang Mai I encountered it at the Buddhist Vegetarian Center where we were eating a very healthy vegan lunch.
8/12 Happy Mother’s day – Today was the queen’s birthday in Thailand and a national holiday that is celebrated as mother’s day. 
This morning in Chiang Mai we enjoyed watching the monks asking for alms and giving blessings to those who offered them. We heard that on Mother’s day especially many people would be out giving. Vendors had ready little gift baskets and flower bundles that people would buy and then hand to the monks. Some of them were so heavily laden that I predicted they might be selective at where they stopped or what they kept. We saw one younger initiate fairly discreetly leave one of his flower bundles at a kiosk.
We’ve reached the Mekong. We are in Chiang Khong and Laos is a few 100 meters away. We are staying at a lovely guesthouse with good food and an airconditioned room. Tomorrow we push towards Muang Sing - though we may only get as far as Luang Nam Tha.
One of my quirky highlights was watching the parking lot by the weekend market in Bangkok. It appears that everyone who doesn't get a diagonal pull in spot just double parks and leaves their car locked but in neutral. When someone wants to get out you see about 5 or 6 cars being rolled forwards or backwards to try and create a gap to exit.
I was quite delighted to find baby corn (on the cob). I knew it had to exist somewhere outside a can, and here in Chiang Mai I encountered it at the Buddhist Vegetarian Center where we were eating a very healthy vegan lunch.
8/12 Happy Mother’s day – Today was the queen’s birthday in Thailand and a national holiday that is celebrated as mother’s day. 
This morning in Chiang Mai we enjoyed watching the monks asking for alms and giving blessings to those who offered them. We heard that on Mother’s day especially many people would be out giving. Vendors had ready little gift baskets and flower bundles that people would buy and then hand to the monks. Some of them were so heavily laden that I predicted they might be selective at where they stopped or what they kept. We saw one younger initiate fairly discreetly leave one of his flower bundles at a kiosk.
We’ve reached the Mekong. We are in Chiang Khong and Laos is a few 100 meters away. We are staying at a lovely guesthouse with good food and an airconditioned room. Tomorrow we push towards Muang Sing - though we may only get as far as Luang Nam Tha.
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