Bangkok, still

We have been here for nearly a week now, but are heading north to Chiang Mai via the jungle and Sukhothai.  There are protestors at the airport, which has closed it down for the near future, but Bangkok is a big city (big, BIG) and they seem very far away.  Happily, we are not planning to fly out of Thailand any time soon...we will be visiting Laos and Vietnam before we think about flying out, and it's possible to catch flights and get visas in Saigon and Hanoi, so we may not actually come back to Thailand for awhile.  This is exactly what the Thai people don't want to hear, since tourism is their bread and butter, but honestly, it's crazy that BKK airport is closed...it handles about 60 million people a year.  I don't know anything about the politics of what's going on, best not to and just stay apolitical in a climate such as this one. 

We are not really aware of the news until we get to a computer, which is only about every 3 or 4 days, since everything here is written in Thai...I mean, we don't watch the news at HOME, so watching it here is almost out of the question...even if we could understand what they were saying.

 

Besides the fact that the world seems to be going to hell in a handbasket, we are doing extremely well, though it's hard to keep costs down in a big city.  How does anyone do it?  There is too much to do and see.  Although food is cheap, accommodation is more expensive and all the things to buy...when I go to some of these malls, I'm reminded of all the beautiful things that we could buy.  I told this to Nathan and he said that he feels exactly the opposite.  The more he sees, the more he wants to get rid of the things that we already have.  This brings me down to earth with a thump, thinking of all the things I have to hide so that he doesn't sell them, or something.  He says "do you ever want to buy the things that you see in a museum?" and I, of course, say "no", because really, who could afford it?  Those things are one of a kind.  But a REPRODUCTION! Seriously though, there are lovely things out there, but I must say that the more we travel, the fewer things I need.  I've been wearing the same 3 shirts and 2 skirts for 3 months and WHO CARES? I look respectful though a bit boring, I admit, but really, why do you really need more than you can carry on your back?  I would like to buy some souvenirs, but I'm having trouble deciding what to buy.  There is all kinds of silk here (pillow covers, bedsheets, bedspreads, tablecloths...) but really, what do you do with stuff like that when it gets dirty?  You can't just throw it in the washing machine.  It's not really practical enough for me.  And the rest is tchochka stuff that is pretty, but I really don't want to haul it around with me...sending stuff home is an optio, but again, I need a good reason to buy something.  Ah, dilemmas.  So I'm looking around for something practical, beautiful, not too expensive.  I mean, I already bought a trivet in India. You can only buy so many trivets. 

 

Suggestions?  Something Nathan might not want to sell.

 

ACDB