Thailand

That's the obligatory shot from my hotel window, looking down at the Chao Praya river.

We arrived for the conference a day early. Despite the jet lag, CO, DJ & myself set off for some adventures. The first adventure was a skiff tour of one of the canal systems that make up 'old Bangkok'. We power-boated past old homes built over the river, some of which had better looking supports than others. Some were run down, but some looked like ideal dwellings. Of course we had to stop for some touristy attractions: a floating 'market', a snake handling show and a chance to create a fish feeding frenzy. Folks, when I say we power boated, I'm not kidding, our little boat could flat out go. Witness the engine:

Suck it Nascar!

At the end of the tour, we were dropped off nearby the Royal Palace and Wat Pho. Wat Pho is the home of the Reclining Buddha as well as the national university for Thai Massage. After DJ's description of the pummeling that is Thai massage, the rest of us decided to pass on the elegant torture. Be sure and check out the picture of the Buddha's feet on the link.

Horizental

My timing for the trip couldn't have been worse: We missed the Loy Krathong festival by just a few days (there were still quite a few Krathongs lingering in the river) and I leave on Tuesday, the King's 70th Birthday. They sure do love their king here in Bangkok. Everyone is supposed to wear yellow in celebration and there's going to be a big ol' parade for him. The upside to this was that Wat Pho and the palace were getting a royal polish. The temples at Wat Pho were nothing short of spectacular. The glass glinted, the gold shone like the sun and the colors were brilliant. One always wonders what things looked like in their heyday, before the ravages of time dull the sparkle. Here I got to see it. I tried to take some pictures, but I don't think they do the majesty of it justice.

We ended the day at a BBQ around the corner from our hotel. The main attraction was the Singha beer sign out front, but it turned out the food was the kicker. Each table had a central slot into which could be dropped a metal pot containing hot coals and ceramic slabs. On top of this you placed a piece of metal shaped like a sombrero to grill some meats on. The outer rim of the covering held water for cooking veggies and noodles and slowly turned into a nice soup on its own. Our waiter could tell we were clueless, so he helped us get started, but soon we were like old pros. Throw in some hot sauce and we were delighted. The total price was just a bit more than what they were going to charge us for three beers back at the hotel. And this was with 6 beers.

Public Health Nightmare