Watermelon Shakes in a Rainy Bangkok Movie Cafe

It's raining in Bangkok... thank the universe! It's been hot as hell, so Im grateful for anything that takes the edge off, and flushes some of the grime out of this heavily polluted city. If it weren't for some of the incredibly nice people I've met here, and the fast DSL connections and other internet related resources, I'd be cursing the indecisiveness that's kept me here far longer than planned.


I finally have decided to take the plunge and head out to Vietnam as well as Angkor Wat. For a couple hundred more bucks than I'd planned on spending, I'll save my already troubled back, and delicate digital equipment, from the notoriously bad roads between Thailand and Northern Cambodia. I'll likely be flying east over Cambodia to Hanoi, Vietnam, and then bussing it south through some famed picturesque areas including my main interest... old fashioned coastal Hoi An (Faifo). Then I'll bus it in airconditioned relative comfort further south to Ho Chi Min (Saigon). As soon as I can, I'll head west then north up through Cambodia (destination Siem Reap).


Beside's the lure of artistic inspiration in Vietnam, I'm doing this circuitous route because the shortest distance between Bangkok and Angkor Wat's temples is also the roughest. Potholes abound for 6-12 hours, and I've met people with horror stories about fear of death while banging their heads on the ceiling of bad busses with seats not attached. I'm just too old for that kind of punishment or risk. It'll only get worse as the pending rains come, but the upside is that the routes from the bottom of Cambodia and up are relatively smooth. Cambodia used to have one of the best road systems in SE Asia, but heavy bombing and other war tactics have ravaged the place. It's gaining momentum in rebuilding it's infrastructure, but it still has a long way to go.

Tomorrow, I finish applying for the visas. They should be ready in the middled of next week.

Meanwhile, I have the most functional and secure room in the whole 3 months I've been in SE Asia. It's certainly not the prettiest (as my photo albums show) bit it has a clean pleasant aesthetic, and a thoughtful dimmer light and modern striped motif. Wall hooks actually attach to the walls, the curtains do their job, and the vanity mirror doesn't cut my head off. With a little effort, no one can see my laptop's tell tale blue light. Being on the 5th floor helps. With a little more effort I can prance around the room nude after a shower under the ceiling fan without anyone seeing me. This is one of the unsung pleasures one can retreat to while visiting a tropical country during it's hot season. It's the small things...