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Places
Bangkok
January 28, 2010 – February 26, 2010
I haven’t done much after arriving in Bangkok. The flights (connection in Běijīng) were decent, but I continue to be tired, even after a haircut. Even so, I’ve visited a few places for the first time, like Soi Cowboy and Patpong (yowzah!) and Chatuchak weekend market. I enjoyed a traditional Thai puppet show (Joe Louis) at Suan Lum night bazaar, and I also watched Avatar in 3D again (not IMAX) at the Siam Paragon, since I had a raincheck ticket from the last visit. I’ve stood three times for the national anthem, once in a park.
I started playing Nethack, swore off Nethack, then resumed playing Nethack. Somewhere in there, I visited Wat Arun via the Chao Phraya river, Chinatown, and helped celebrate Chinese New Year. I also took a fun day trip to Ayutthaya. Inconvenience and convenience collided when my replacement AC adapter died, and I had to shop for a second replacement. In boring news, I prepared most of the 2009 income taxes (now pending a 401K partial conversion to a Roth IRA).
As usual, I had fun with food, including filtering out chilis with rice, snacking on fried bugs, and looking for a decent bowl of Japanese ramen (I know).
After I got better from a last-minute cold, I took an overnight train to Ubon Ratchathani.
Ubon Ratchathani
February 27, 2010
My flexible was schedule. I didn’t need to cross into Laos right away, so when I arrived in Ubon, I took the morning and afternoon to wander around at my leisure, lugging my gear around on my back while I walked in the hot sun. I took care of some business, printing out some pages that I needed to fill out, sign, and fax later.
The National Museum was small but pretty interesting. Afterward, I visited a couple of quiet wats (Wat Sri Ubon Rattanaram, Wat Thung Si Mueang, and Wat Jaeng) in town, had lunch at a random noodle place, and then took the public bus to the bus station. While I waited for the next bus to Pakse, a trio of young Thai guys came over and chatted while one of them bashfully flirted with me.
Crossing the border was easy; the bus waited for everyone to pass through. It was evening when we arrived in Pakse.
