Duangkamol - ดวงกมล (Granuaile OFlanagan)'s Page

It is Eid and the the speakers around my hotel (from the Mosque) and speakers in the alley going back to my hotel have been busy. Lots of praises and prayers over them, singing "allahu akhbar." It is pretty wonderful really. Quite though, even the Muslim food stand usually up on the main street just at the end of the alley was not up this morning.

I went to Kanchanaburi on Tuesday. The first part was the floating market, which I could have done without. Lots of pitches to sell you thi… Continue

Wow, a week has flown by here. I went to Khao Yai yesterday with my friend Kannika and her family. They were having a paa-ba ceremony at a Buddhist temple temple there. It was extremely beautiful there,the mountains rising in a geology that was like that in Chinese paintings I had seen... I certainly enjoyed the day though it was long - I met Kannika at 6 AM in Democracy Square and we went to her house where she, her sister and mother and helpers all took the van to Khao Yai where other friends… Continue

Another morning here in Bangkok at the internet cafe by Klong Banglamphu. Sunny outside, and to me it feels quite a bit stickier than yesterday was. I have ound that the folks who saw me regularly last year around Phra Sumen Road still remember me. I know I am probably quite distinctive but still I was surprised. After all, there are literally thousands of foreigners - though in Bangkok it may sometimes be hard to distinguish since so many people born and raised here in Bangkok have roots in Ind… Continue

Second day in Bangkok has begun. Yesterday was the King's birthday. Crowds everywhere. I went to Khaosan Road and talked to my tailor about making a couple of dresses, decided against tattoos - the latter just didn't seem any less expensive than home in Kentucky. Maybe more expensive.

While there and after buying a khon mask and some purses, there was a parade down Khaosan Road with people shouting "long live the king" in Thai and English. Along Phra Chakrapong Road as the day passed,…

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Just a couple more days and a few thousand miles between myself and the most wonderful city on the planet, well at least that I have experienced. Things seem in order. Hotel reservation re-verified. Pick-up service arranged (using the service listed on the Khaosan Road website. Planning to try to cram everything down into two backpacks. I may ship things back before I leave to come back to the US, or perhaps buy luggage there. But just going to take some light skirts and blouses with me, books,… Continue