Bangkok Adventure

Wow, you may say. That looks a lot like a motorcycle under that van. We had a little excitement on our way to the airport. Zipping past anaccident scene with police lights flashing and whistles blowing we happened to pick up an extra vehicle. Fortunately, the rider (slight injuries we were told) was not on his bike at the time we scooped it up at 60 mph. The unfortunate biker left his ride in the left lane.

We were actually the third vehicle to hit it, but we took it to go. Our alert driver decided to pull over a couple of hundred yards down the highway where he and our guide along with some of the biker's friends worked to dislodge it. The good news: No flashing lights on our dash (no oil leak, coolant leak, fan belt broken) and it got hooked on the chassis before it had a chance to puncture a tire.

This is not a big deal in Bangkok. After a few minutes of rocking and reversing we freed the stowaway and we were back on our merry way to the airport. According to local custom, this accident was preventable and blame falls squarely on the shoulder of the policeman who was parked on the left (our right, they drive on the wrong side of the road here but that was probably not a factor) flashing his lights and blowing his whistle because he did not cross three lanes of speeding traffic to drag the errant cycle off of the roadway. As a matter of
fact, you can sue that policeman for dereliction of duty. (I want to know the result of that lawsuit.) By the way, seat belts are not required in most Asian countries for passengers, only the driver. That's the question we need to ask ahead of non-smoking driver and
english speaking guide.

Motorcycle for sale, needs work. Girl in thongs not included, although she may be looking for a new boyfriend with wheels.

Happily, I am writing this email from the comfort of the Thai Royal Orchid lounge featuring free beer and other goodies as we while away the time until our flight. We had a wonderful day today, speeding to the floating market for our first stop. It is a short 2 hour drive.

We took a lot of pictures and ate a lot of food, some a mystery and some not. Cruising down the canal in a long boat felt like a Disney ride, or what a Disney ride is trying to be.

We were waiting for the anamatronic crocodiles to jump up.


She is making coconut crepes. I have a video of the whole process. She passes her bagged products to boats with a basket on a long stick and takes in money the same way.

Here is one happy customer.

I need to interrupt here so we can get on the plane. More photos to come some time in the future. Maybe I can sort them on the plane.

We expect to land at JFK around 10:30 am your time, a little more than 25 hours from now. We have a 4.5 hour layover in Tokyo to stretch out legs and shower.

Regards,

Steve & Laurie