Dave's Sketch Journal

This was a wild day.

We decided to rent one of the long boats and take it through the canals of Bangkok.

 These boats torpedo across the water from the thrust of with what looks like a V8 450 from an old Cadillac. The engines are huge, loud, and throaty monstrosities perched on boat's stern.

 There is a long rod with direct drive propeller dipped over the the back into a few feet of water. They are easily manipulated by the pilot who can make them turn on a dime.

All the while I'm worried we'll be dumped into the water should he hit a rough patch. I cover my lenses from the water spraying over the sides.

Soon though we are slicing through the quiet canals at a slower pace and pausing briefly to navigate the locks of the river.

On our return to the the hotel we took a Tuk Tuk.  (Try to say that twice.)  They are three wheeled motorcycles on steroids.  It started to dump heavy rain on the way back and again I thought we'd end up in a pile of tangled metal in the street after whizzing around one of the blind corners. I said to the driver (but he couldn't hear for the rain and muffler-less motor) "Dude, easy on the throttle. We can arrive tomorrow if necessary."

We had him drop us off at the local store to buy some food.

The stores here are better supplied with foreign goods than those in China. They carry all the stuff we love: sharp cheeses, ruffled chips, blue cheese dips, California wines, and olives. We cart off half the store and hand over $3,110 baht (about 100 bucks U.S.). It seemed bizarre to spend 3,000 bucks on a single grocery trip.

Afterward we found some Thai beer and slices of beaf wrapped in a tortilla of sorts. We doused them with hot Arabic sauces and found some air conditioning to cool us down.

...dave
Laziness is nothing more than the habit of resting before you get tired. -Jules Renard