planes, trains, n tuk tuks….

After our first full nights sleep since we arrived, I woke feeling great.  Had an iced coffee and read while b went for a ‘quick run’, which turned into a two hr run as she got horribly lost, had to flag a tuk tuk and traverse the city trying to remember where the guest house was.  She arrived w/ blisters on both heels, but a new endurance.  Back to the Indian Consolate this time  well before noon where i was informed my immigration paperwork had come unstapled from my passport somewhere back in bangkok and couldn’t leave the country without it.  Must go back to the immig. office at the airport.  Great.  sure that will be a simple procedure!  Both of us had to resign all our forms to ‘better’ duplicate our own signitures.  ha.  they really are particular. 

Spent the afternnon meandering around Chang Mai old city.  Still surrounded by a crumbling wall complete w/ moat.  Soaked in the peaceful relaxed vibe that is such a contrast to the filthy, stressful, feeling like prey to the scam artists hunters of Bangkok.  Chang Mai is clean, with stunning teak bungalows, southern American colonial plantation style mansions, fountain w/ manicured gardens. 

payed our respects to a GIANT Budah and marveled at the elaborate offeri gs of food, treasures and incense in pic nic baskets at his feet. Asked Pom later who actually gets the booty and apparently the monks do.  Monks are everywhere in thailand.  On buses, boats, sidwalks.  I’m facinated by them but know the rules, “no touching or sitting next to them”  its hard to really get to know them from such afar.  Pom says that most are just really poor men that se ‘monkhood’ as a way out of squallor.  I guess that’s fair….a vow of poverty for a fetching orange robe.

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