Pedicures and fishicures

  from Katherine in Bangkok
     Up bright and early at 2:45 am - wait - 2:45?  Ah yes jetlag is in full swing.  Better here in Bangkok than on the road in China.  Here we have to lots to do to plan for this trip and lots of amenities.  For instance yesterday Grace got her teeth cleaned, I bought a much needed watch.  This latter involved a trip to a huge shopping mall - mall is the wrong word.  More like a shopping empire in the middle of Bangkok, teeming with Thais out on a Saturday. I realize that there is currently much discontent in many parts of this country and many people barely surviving but something must be flourishing in the Thai economy to to support what we saw.  And you know what?  With all those masses of people at the Skytrain stations through Bangkok getting there and all the waiting and rushing and crowding, the Thais were hugely polite and patient.  The people waitng on the sleek Skytrain platforms just automatically formed a series of polite little lines in anticipation of entering through the train doors when it pulled up.  Wow - I've never seen that before.  It seemed so relaxed and natural.  No shoving or pushing or tense, silent impatience.  The world should have more of that.  Something tells me China will be very different...
     As I said we have lots of business to take care of here.  Last night on Phatpong Road, Grace got a pedicure while next door I got a ...fishicure?  Yes, in the spirit of the great Bodhisattvas who offer themselves for the sake of all beings, I paid to put my feet in a pool of water and let the fish feed on them.  It was tickly-delightful and , ok, maybe a little grisly, especially when they were climbing to the surface of the water around my legs and I could see their hungry bulging eyes.  But after awhile I felt a bond with those little creatures  - I was a part of them in a way at this point - and the whole experience left me slightly electrified and shaky.  And with the most amazingly pearly smooth feet!  It occured to me that maybe one could try this as a sort of exotic spa facial - you'd have to cover the eyes and all orifices but it could do wonders for the skin. You could have a fishicure for the feet and a fishial for the complexion!  Unfortunately this computer I'm on will not let me download the images that Grace shot so I can't show you all those little fishies.  Maybe later.
      There's lots more to say about Bangkok but without the photos it would just take too long.  Like the magnificent temple Wat Arun I visited today on the Chao Phraya River.  Tomorrow we leave early for China!   I'll miss the dazzling variety of delicious street food here, the beautiful and intriguing daily offerings in the small shrines on the street, the neon pink taxis and neon pink buses and the warm and gentle Thai people.