We don't let the kids pet the dogs for the most part, many of which are languishing about to stay cool from the heat of the day. John and Elizabeth are more interested in the cats, which are harder to spot, and the kids always seem to be on the lookout for felines. Some of them are missing parts of tails, maybe because there are so many motorcycles zooming about on the street and sidewalks, and sometimes the kids spot mother with kittens. But for the most part they appear to be reasonably well taken care of, as we see most of the cats near the businesses and residences we pass on the street. The laundry lady was entertained when the kids fawned over her two cats when we dropped off our laundry. She was taking pictures - I suppose we were the tourist attraction. Last night Elizabeth's seat was taken by the local cat at the restaurant when she went off to the washroom. We didn't have the heart to shoo it away, or perhaps we didn't have the courage in case the cat happened to be the stubborn type. So we finished the meal with a friend. I like cats too but I can't help but harp that the kids should try to keep their hands clean and free of cat fur at least while we eat.
As we took a taxi to the train station in heavy traffic, I had the opportunity to talk with the driver. He was a young man who spoke some English, which he had learned from his customers. He was from a small village and came to Bangkok to work, as do most of the men from his town. His wife worked in a Bangkok factory which made bags of sorts, and their kids lived with their grandparents in their home town. He would work in Bangkok for a month at a time and then go home for a week. I asked him if life was good and he seemed to indicate it was. I wonder if his story is typical.
We arrived at the train station early and spent part of the afternoon in Chinatown, where the kids found their first geocache in Asia. We also saw shark fin soup for sale in a number of places, which was sad to see since I understand this practice is hard on the shark population. We also visited a quiet Buddhist temple with some beautiful gardens and fountains. The kids tried to make an offering of incense sticks at the temple but were instructed to always burn three sticks at a time, which they did. I later learned that this is done so practitioners remember Buddha, his teachings, and the community of Buddhists. The monk who instructed us gave the kids a fanta pop each. It was a nice quiet oasis stop in the city. Speaking of monks, they seem to be everywhere. I understand they often start their day by collecting alms of food at dawn from the locals. As we sat at the train station waiting for our overnight train to the coast near Koh Samui, I noticed there was a separate seating area for monks and novices. They were all in orange robes with shaved heads and everyone seemed to treat them with respect.
On our way out of Bangkok on the overnight train, I saw various people living in simple, almost squalid conditions along the track. Strangely, at least to me, every other person was on their smart phone. No matter how rich or poor, it seems everyone is on their device these days, no matter where you go. As the train rumbled through Bangkok at slow speed, seemingly forever, we passed all manner of markets - we even saw a festival close to the tracks with bouncy castles for the kids. There was also construction of what seemed to me to be support pillars for a sky train. It ran on for miles along side the train tracks. There were workers at most of the piers, which were spaced out every one to two hundred feet. I wonder how many people were working on this huge project - there must be hundreds or perhaps thousands of workers.
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