FROM BANGKOK, THAILAND

Bangkok, Day 3 (June 24)

The R & R Day

BANGKOK, June 24, 2006 - Today was my designated R&R day (rest and recreation).  And I spent most of it in my room, working on the travelogues about the fascinating tour of Bangkok that Tu and Pop laid on for me yesterday.  But I did get antsy eventually, and went out in early afternoon for a walk.  I used as an excuse my broken watch strap that I needed to replace.

And as I approached the local department store (Robinson's - above), I was stunned to discover that the Golden Arches are actually still alive and well.  In fact, there is also a Colonel Sanders KFC chicken place at the other end of the store.  Both looked out of place, surrounded by hundreds of local street vendors cooking their meals on neighboring sidewalks. Consequently, the dominant scents in the air were definitely NOT those of the American franchisee's products.  But they did attract some clientele, even here.

Just as in India, people and animals share the living spaces here in Bangkok.  There are actually two dogs in this picture having an afternoon siesta under the freeway bridge across the river Mae.  (Can you find the second dog?  If so, what color is he/she?)

I took the above shots, as you might have guessed, from the center of the bridge.  It looks like the riverfront is a real luxury hotel alley.  I've labeled them for you so you would not have to have two eye tests (I figured the one with the two dogs was enough). J

Not far from where I took the shots of the luxury hotels, one can see this eye sore.  It's an unfinished skyscraper that has been left to rust and ruin.  My guess is that the developer ran out of money.  The amazing thing is that his lenders had not taken over to save the project, but have instead abandoned the property to the elements.  Weird, stupid... and so UGLY!

Remember the birdseye view of the temple under my hotel - a picture I took on my first day here?  I made a mental note to check it out, and today I did... by accident.  I just sort of stumbled upon it.

And what I saw was rather pretty, though on a much more modest a scale than the temples I saw yesterday.  Guess you can spoiled taking tours of Grand Palaces... Nevertheless, check this out.  If I had not seen the former, I would have been impressed by the latter.

One redeeming virtue of this Reclining (Sleeping) Buddha is that I was able to fit it all in one picture frame. J

And finally a reverse birds eye view... a picture of the temple and of my hotel from the ground up.

Just as I got back to my room, all dripping sweat on another hot and humid day, another nature show was about to start.

This was the lull before the storm... 

...and you could feel the storm brewing in the air.

And then all hell broke loose.  The storm moved in dropping sheets of rain and sheet lightening all around my hotel.  It was quite a show.  But as Tu pointed out yesterday, the storm lasted about 15 minutes and then then it stopped just as suddenly as it started.  It seemed as if the Thais heavenly conductor is always in a hurry to move on his show to another stage.  Maybe there is just so much water that it can spare at each place?  And the "show must go on."  It's a rainy season, after all.  J

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