I’m back in Bangkok now, but I leave tomorrow for Nong Khai on the Thailand/Laos border. It’s a 12-hour train, but it departs at 8:30pm so I’ll arrive the next morning. Apparently I have just a bridge to cross from Nong Khai to reach the Laos capitol of Vientiane. I hear that there are shooting ranges in the heart of Vientiane where you can shoot AK-47’s and grenade launchers. It’s probably not really my style, but what the hell, I will shoot everything they have. In ten days I’ll leave Vientiane, or wherever I am, and come back to northern Thailand to meet Tenzin and crew. Otherwise, today has been a productive day. I went to Golden Mountain temple and visited my monk friend Tony who gave me a 30 minute crash course on Thai pronounciation. I have an instructional book, but my pronounciation is weak at best. He helped me build some basic tenets and fill some gaps of misinformation. I didn’t have any plans for this evening so I decided to walk around on the street. I popped into a 7-11 where they have a wealth of english-language magazines on a rack, so I browse through the latest Time, which of course has a torn-apart New Orleans on the cover. While I’m browsing a Thai guy takes note of the pendant on my necklace, which Tony gave me a few weeks ago at Golden Mountain. He speaks good english and we chat it up for a few minutes; I tell him that I’m looking for internets and we take a walk and he leads me there. On the way, we stop at a night temple which was unbelievable. It was a wat that I hadn’t been to and the place was filled with people. Everyone was chanting, and there was a process there that I hadn’t gone through before. Involving the usual incense and candle, but also a lotus flower. Really beautiful. We walked around, just chillin, and he led me to this internet place where I am now. He’s down the street where I’ll meet up with him and apparently there’s a sweet Thai bar which we’ll hit up. He lives in Chiang Mai but is here for 4 days on business. Let’s see what’s next for this evening.
