Back home at last. It has taken me a couple of days to get through a large volume of mail and to take care of financial matters especially my monthly bank statement. That was more difficult this time because of all the ATM slips from Thailand in Baht. I survived that ordeal however and am now caught up on everything except laundry and that can wait a couple of more days.
What can I say about my journey? Well, right now it all seems like a dream. Was that really me over there for the fourth time. Do I know those people? Do I know anything about that country?
This time I did get to see some things that were new to me. For instance, I was able to visit the Khao Yai National Park. The waterfalls there were running on low however as this is the dry season but the drive there was very nice and there were a number of Gibbons (monkeys) along the highway in one area. No other wild animals were in evidence at the time.
The drive up to Doi Angkang was pleasant and ended at an Army outpost on the border with Myanmar where we had coffee while peering across the border at a Burmese Army camp on the next hill. Along the way we stopped at one village to take a look at how the hill people live. As we were about to leave a "dust devil" came up the hill behind us, startling me and fascinating the children of the village.
The drive to Doi Inthanon provided some of the most scenic territory of all with several waterfalls that were not running on almost empty as well as taking us up to the highest point in the country. I took a picture of the sign there but its elevation in meters does not convert well to feet, either because I am reading the sign incorrectly, it is incorrect, or the on-line conversion website I use, does not work properly. It gives me a strange number which ends with the letter "e + 8 feet". Huh? This one needs more work. Or, maybe I don't know what 'e' are.
When I was in Bangkok in May 2004, the new subway had not opened yet due to various delays but this time it was open so on my first day there I rode a short distance from the Silom Station to the Hua Lumphong Station and back just to check it out. Later I rode the entire system. It has one characteristic of the Singapore subway system. That is, there is a wall on the platform edge with doors that open along with the train doors. This operation is like the automated skytrain people mover at SFO. I was astonished to see how large the station concourses are although I believe some of that is in anticipation of expansion of the system which the Royal Family seems to be encouraging. Certainly the huge concourse at Bang Sue station make no sense otherwise.
Bangkok and Chiang Mai seem to have changed little since my previous visits and nightlife is still abundant and as wild as ever. Now that I am back in sedate ol' San Francisco, what will I do with myself?
What can I say about my journey? Well, right now it all seems like a dream. Was that really me over there for the fourth time. Do I know those people? Do I know anything about that country?
This time I did get to see some things that were new to me. For instance, I was able to visit the Khao Yai National Park. The waterfalls there were running on low however as this is the dry season but the drive there was very nice and there were a number of Gibbons (monkeys) along the highway in one area. No other wild animals were in evidence at the time.
The drive up to Doi Angkang was pleasant and ended at an Army outpost on the border with Myanmar where we had coffee while peering across the border at a Burmese Army camp on the next hill. Along the way we stopped at one village to take a look at how the hill people live. As we were about to leave a "dust devil" came up the hill behind us, startling me and fascinating the children of the village.
The drive to Doi Inthanon provided some of the most scenic territory of all with several waterfalls that were not running on almost empty as well as taking us up to the highest point in the country. I took a picture of the sign there but its elevation in meters does not convert well to feet, either because I am reading the sign incorrectly, it is incorrect, or the on-line conversion website I use, does not work properly. It gives me a strange number which ends with the letter "e + 8 feet". Huh? This one needs more work. Or, maybe I don't know what 'e' are.
When I was in Bangkok in May 2004, the new subway had not opened yet due to various delays but this time it was open so on my first day there I rode a short distance from the Silom Station to the Hua Lumphong Station and back just to check it out. Later I rode the entire system. It has one characteristic of the Singapore subway system. That is, there is a wall on the platform edge with doors that open along with the train doors. This operation is like the automated skytrain people mover at SFO. I was astonished to see how large the station concourses are although I believe some of that is in anticipation of expansion of the system which the Royal Family seems to be encouraging. Certainly the huge concourse at Bang Sue station make no sense otherwise.
Bangkok and Chiang Mai seem to have changed little since my previous visits and nightlife is still abundant and as wild as ever. Now that I am back in sedate ol' San Francisco, what will I do with myself?
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