Goodbye Bangkok, Hello Beijing

So it is my final night in Bangkok.....and I can't say I'm sorry to see it go. Coming from India causes everything here to severely pale in comparison, but I guess that's not really fair since it is like apples and oranges. My friends from San Francisco just arrived and they have been noticing the salesmen, pollution, and toilet situation among other things that are difficult to deal with. And to every observation they have made I up the ante with...."Well in India", which is actually starting to annoy me. In fact, I'm starting to wonder if I'm ever going to want to go anywhere else. Or perhaps I end up like one of those 30 something English folk who have been to India a dozen times. I guess we'll have to see who things work out, one can never guess.

But besides the comparison with India I am overly anxious to get out of Bangkok. This is a tourist trap if I ever saw one. Luckily Jamie and Marty are an entertaining pair, so my last day is turning out quite well. We went to Wat Pho today, which was really the one place I really want to see before I left. In it there is a gigantic sleeping Buddha, which is truly brilliant. We had a lovely day, and Marty made me start to feel like a bit of a Buddhist expert with the millions of questions he had. It's interesting running into old friends and getting some indication of how I've changed......and haven't. Traveling alone it's just you looking at you. It's interesting now to see myself through their eyes. It's very heartening. I have made baby steps towards improving my lifestyle and ways of thinking about things, and it feels good to see the difference.....the subtle changes. And besides that it's just wonderful to be with old friends. It feels like sooooo long since I've seen a familiar face. So we are off to some highly recommended restaurant which Jamie has on her list of "things you must do in Thailand". I just had to squeeze one last Thailand blog in. Next I will be telling all about my fly by night ideas about Beijing and then home!.....oh this trip is ending so soon I can barely believe I'll be home in a week!!