Ten days in Bangkok
I'm just back from an unexpected ten days in Bangkok - work-related (and work-paid-for) but with quite a lot of time to wander about and see what could be seen. Things seen included:
- monitor lizards! Seen on several mornings, lazily swimming and hunting (or scavenging?) in the canal next to the hotel. Such fat bodies, alert heads, and long, whippy tails!
- the canals themselves - what a brilliant way to deal with a wet, wet, down-river city!
- the house of Jim Thompson, ex-OSS operative (OSS was what later turned into the CIA, and thereby possibly hangs an untold tale) who collected Thai (and other) building components, and rebuilt them into a house for himself, from which he ran the international business which revitalised the Thai silk-weaving industry. Lots to see there, in the way of collected antiques etc, but what I liked best was this Chinese mouse house*:
It's nineteenth century, and was not intended as an art piece, but for amusement and gambling; several identifiable mice were put in it and let to wander and peek out at will, and children could enjoy their unexpected poppings-out, and adults could bet on which mouse would appear where. (I hope after the evening's fun the mice had a bigger yard to play in out the back, with such excellent mouse-food as they best enjoyed.)
* not my photo! taken from the website jimthompson.com
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- monitor lizards! Seen on several mornings, lazily swimming and hunting (or scavenging?) in the canal next to the hotel. Such fat bodies, alert heads, and long, whippy tails!
- the canals themselves - what a brilliant way to deal with a wet, wet, down-river city!
- the house of Jim Thompson, ex-OSS operative (OSS was what later turned into the CIA, and thereby possibly hangs an untold tale) who collected Thai (and other) building components, and rebuilt them into a house for himself, from which he ran the international business which revitalised the Thai silk-weaving industry. Lots to see there, in the way of collected antiques etc, but what I liked best was this Chinese mouse house*:
It's nineteenth century, and was not intended as an art piece, but for amusement and gambling; several identifiable mice were put in it and let to wander and peek out at will, and children could enjoy their unexpected poppings-out, and adults could bet on which mouse would appear where. (I hope after the evening's fun the mice had a bigger yard to play in out the back, with such excellent mouse-food as they best enjoyed.)
* not my photo! taken from the website jimthompson.com