i spent the day with Erwin and Charlotte today. We saw the Grand Palace which was amazing. Its the size of 20 city blocks with huge temples and administrative buildings inside. there is a contiuous mural that goes around the entire complex. We took a boat ride along a canal that runs through part of bangkok. it was really fun because we saw a lot of ordinary people doing things in the houses that are built along the canal. the boats themselves are very long and narrow and each one has an entire automobile engine mounted 3 feet above the floor of the boat. The operator pivots the whole engine to steer the boat and has a gear shift. it really looked like a scene from Mad Max.

things are mellowing out a bit. i feel settled and realize just how long i have left to stay in this country. charlotte has been interesting to talk to. she is well traveled in asia and lived for a year in vietnam. we're going to her hotel now to hang out by the pool then check out the seedy nightlife in that part of town.

we keep coming across larger and larger makets. today's was endless. half food and half flowers. the bunches of roses were fantastic. although everything is tempered by the pollution. its horrific. we took a tuk-tuk back to khao san road and its like a disneyland ride. really crazy, really fast. we almost creamed a guy on a moped. its actually quite dangerous.

i plan on staying at newsiam(.net) for tonight and tomorrow night. they tuesday i'll head to another part of the country. probably south, although erwin is going west and plans on renting motorbikes which sounds fun. im not sure when its worth it to give up your own plans to be with people, which i greatly enjoyed today, and when its important to go your own way by yourself.

sawat-dii!