Rained In

Hello,

Rained in today. What a down pour. Would love to be in a real tropical storm. This is my last day in Chiang Mai so it's good day for wrapping up and finishing my book. I went to starbucks for a coffee and I was the only person in there without a lap top...funny how the world has changed. It is an essential part of a holiday now considering so many thing are pre-booked on line. For example, if you book your hotel on line you can not make any changes with the hotel there...they have to go on line. The added benefit is being able to research where you are at the same time...ie sites, places to eat etc. The hotel I am staying has free wireless access....but thankfully they have four terminals in the lobby with a 15 minute max access when someone is waiting...so it works for me for the most part. I did a little research on Vietnam..need to get a visa if I want to got there so will have to apply in Bangkok and re-evaluate things as a result.

I think what amazes me most aside from the pollution is the deterioration of infrastructure. Navigating sidewalks, streets and crossings....it is a free-for-all and you have to watch where you are walking at all time. Uneven and broken sidewalks, no system to crossing the street and iron bolts jutting out of the sidewalks...you had better have flat shoes, be surefooted and have your wits about you and that is in the city haha...It is interesting just walking around and watching the people including the tourists. The markets here have a wide variety of foods most of which I do not recognize nor understand haha. Last night I am pretty sure I had what would amount to dim sum...bought at individual vendors and it was quite good...all for like $3. Takes a little while and some patience and some bad food to get to knowing what and where to eat...though when in a rush or starving there is always a North American chain near bye! :)

Finished a good book Rob bought on the life of a Thai private eye. It was a pretty insightful read into the underbelly of Thai society....smiles and smiles masking lots of fraud and corruption. I'll tell you one thing, you don't want to spend a day in jail here unless you have money to quickly buy your way out. The way I figure it for routine crimes like theft and maybe assaut you had better have a couple thousand dollars for the police, for what they refer to as the "orphans and widows fund!"...

Well I am off, perhaps I will have a snack of deep fried grasshoppers. I had one, the legs were like fried shrimp shell and the body...crunchy and weird. It was only after I tried the whole thing that I found out most Thai just eat the legs...talk about a standard tourist misconception haha. Talk to ya soon...pete :)