"Nothing is that which rocks dream of."  Aristotle

My first (full) day in Bangkok has been excellent. I
woke up early thanks to the time zone change and after
squaring away my guesthouse room and my Cambodian
visa, settled into a banana pancake, drizzled with
warm honey and a cold, icy watermelon smoothie, purple
orchid tucked over the side.  The food here is so
delicious. Last night, I had an incredible plate of
green curry, steamed rice, and a pineapple smoothie.
The curry was spicy fantastic, with lots of veggies,
some of which I knew and others that I didn't.  All of
that for about a buck. Can't beat that.
Today's agenda was basically to not have one.  Just
takin' it easy, being spontaneous and relaxed at the
same time, and seeing where I end up.  This morning,
that was the Royal Barge Museum.  I didn't go there on
my previous trip to Bangkok.  So, I flagged a tuk-tuk,
flashed a smile and bargained him down to a good
price.  In exchange, he flew me throught the city and
over the river on his 3-wheeled, open-air, red and
blue taxi of danger.  The streets of Bangkok whizzed
by in a cool, breezy blur and soon enough I was at the
"entrance" to the museum.  Now, here, I expected to
walk through a gate, pay my entrance fee and be on my
merry way.  But, if I've learned anything in Asia,
it's that things are rarely that straightforward.  So,
when the tanned pineapple and coconut vender directed
me to a side alley, I barely blinked and thanked him
for his kindness.
About 20 meters further, i took a 90 degree turn to
the left and found myself walking on a raised,
concrete, pedestrian walkway next ot a small canal (or
a big ditch). It wove in and out of fruit stands and
front yards and across the canal back and forth, past
homes half-submerged in marshy land or tilted at odd
angles, past drying laundry and tropical flowers,
concrete walls and wooden thai-style picket fences.
It seemed a rather round-about path to get to a
National Museum, but a great way to see the everyday
life of Thais in Bangkok, which is starkly in contrast
ot the lavish, gorgeous wats (temples) throughout the
city.
A good 20 minutes later, I popped out of a small exit
in a big cinder block wall and was at the museum.  Two
ladies came up to the counter at about the same time
that I did and I asked them if they'd gone through
that crazy maze to get here.  They laughed and said,
"No, we took the boat across the river." Hmm... guess
that would've been a bit easier.
The Royal Barge Museum houses several long, distinctly
Thai-style wooden boats, which the royal family uses
in processions.  They're incredible.  Probably about
30-40 feet in length, painted with gold and black
lacquer, as well as other bright colors.  Small
reflective mirrors are attached all over the boat.
The hulls have large ornately-carved and -painted
wooden statues, that depict the Gods common in Thai
culture.  I spent a good hour and a half there, trying
to capture the 7 or 8 boats on film.
Upon leaving, I asked for directions to the boat and a
little, extremely personable, Thai man appeared. His
smile revealed a few missing teeth. I liked him almost
instantly.  He offered me a trip down the canals for
600 baht (15 dollars).  "No tour, no groups, no
EnglishGermanJapanese," he said, opening and closing
his hands in imitation of the typical yakking dull
tour guide.  Now, there are so many scams in Thailand
to rip off foreigners that you can't just accept what
everyone tells you.  The ticket collector at the
museum entrance had closed the window of his booth and
that seemed like a bad sign.  But, I kept talking to
the small, likeable man and laughed a bit.  When it
was apparent that I wasn't uncomfortable, the ticket
collector re-opened up his window and smiled.  I asked
him, "Is he okay?" jokingly indicating the charmer
trying to sell me a boat ride.  He smiled wide and
said, "okay."  So, I went (for 400 baht). Why not?
That canal trip, with me perched dead center in a Thai
long-tail boat was one of the best things I've done in
Thailand.  We cruised through the canal system that
makes up the residential "street" network of Bangkok.
I saw so many great things, so many different houses,
loads and loads of lush tropical flowers, plants and
fruits, women and men dangling off of sketchy-looking
porches to wash laundry or catch some fish.  Small
boats, taking people here and there, just like cars in
a mini, water suburbia. 
One of my favorite sights was a young Thai business
woman dressed in a black and white suit, rowing her
aged, brown grandmother along the canal.  It was such
a great contrast of old and new, aged and young. The
sharp, crisp young lady and the old woman in her torn,
white shirt and woven, straw sunhat, both in a little
boat, rowing along with somewhere (or perhaps,nowhere)
to go.
My river cruise sadly ended about an hour later at a
stop far south in the city.  It was the closest stop
to the main P.O., where I will be picking up visa
papers later next week.  But, again, it was not to be
so straightforward.  As I was moseying along the
shaded side of one of the main thoroughfares of
central Bangkok, I saw a small, poorly-lit shopfront
with some interesting postage stamps in the window.
Why not?  So, I peeked inside and then inquired of the
shop owner if he had anymore.  At the time, I had no
way of knowing that I'd struck a small goldmine.  This
man's hobby since he was young had been stamp
collecting and he had the most insanely large
collection of stamps that I have ever seen.  He was
fascinating to talk with and I probably spent a solid
hour in there, looking through his extensive
collection and hearing some stories.  I also walked
out of there the proud owner of some very cool Thai
postage stamps. :)
Here, I would like to say for the record that tourist
maps are so stinking deceptive.  They cram all the
major tourist sites in an enormous city on a sheet of
paper no bigger than a notebook, so that when someone
like Percy Niblick, average tourist extraordinnaire,
looks at it, he thinks, "Ah, perfect! Point A and
point B are only about an inch apart.  Surely, I can
walk it."  Point A, the main P.O. and Point B,
Lumphini Park, were actually two hours apart.
Thankfully, I wasn't on a schedule of any sort, so I
simply strolled along, stopping to buy some silk
handicrafts and souveniers. However, by the time I got
to Lumphini Park, my feet were ready for a wee rest.
Lumphini Park is Bangkok's largest, an excellent
outdoor escape in the middle of the city. It's a
beautiful park, with lots of green, water, and a happy
abundance of places to rest awhile.  It also happens
to be home to some very large lizards.  Now, I'm
interested in animals as much as the next person, but
when a lizard head the size of my two fists together
poked out of the water, and his 6-inch long, forked
tongue flicked in and out, my curiosity was quickly
tempered with a healthy does of self-preservation
instincts.  I didn't know whether I should jump up and
run as fast as my tired dogs would carry me, or
pretend to be an oddly-shaped rock.  I sat there a
moment longer and a large lizardy hand, with yello
dots and lizardy claws crept onto the grassy bank in
front of me.  This was followed by another hand and
then a long, kinda chubby body and finally a tail that
kept going and going.  At that moment, watching him
amble somewhat awkwardly out of the water, reason
kicked in. I rationed that they wouldn't let a
dangerous reptile live in a public park.  Would they?
I looked around and saw that all the Thais were more
interested in my response to this animal than in the
actual animal itself.  Now, I have no idea what kind
of lizard it was, but that thing was the full length
of my two arms extended.  It warranted a picture, if
anything did.  The Thais laughed when they saw me
shoot a photo of what must have been a common animal
to them.  Maybe, it's like someone taking a picture of
a duck or a cow in the U.S.  I don't know, but if
you're ever at Lumphini Park in central Bangkok, you
have my seal of approval on the safety of the big
lizards. :)
Tomorrow morning, I'm off to Cambodia to photograph
the ancient temples of the Angkor Wat complex, near
Siem Reap.  I've hear nightmarish stories about the
bus ride there, but am still looking forward to it!
I'll talk to you all next time I'm at a computer.

You give and take away, You give and take away

My heart will choose to say, Lord, blessed be Your name.

I miss my dad.