EAT MY FEET, THEN THAI ONE ON

Did some tourist things on Pub Street on our last night in Cambodia. Pat had the $1-for-10-minutes leg massage. She said it took the achy-breaky out of her feet! Next door, I FED my feet to those fish that act like piranhas in training! Same $1 for 10 minutes; the tiny bites are an unnatural sensation of laughs and yet weirdness at the same time. You've got nothing to lose but your dead skin.

But this morning it was a 4-hour bus to the border of Thailand. To my great disbelief, the visa to enter the country was fast and free! (Remarkable in this part of the world, where common numbers are 1 hour and $25-$50 respectively.) We had to walk across the line, then board a minivan for the next 4 hours to Bangkok. That ride was stuffy, crowded, and bumpy and the land is tinder dry. Then some of our Guiding Angels started showing up, in the heat, crowds, and confusion of the subway station. First a guy who resembled Philip Seymour-Hoffman pointed us in the right direction. Then we glommed on to a German couple who just happened to be going to the same neighbourhood. (In the meantime, I'm dealing with a new currency --- Thai bahts.)Then a guy in a money exchange booth took the time to call our unknown hotel and ask directions for us! Then we found a coin on the street --- the signal that luck is with us if we pick it up, no matter how small. Then a Spanish-speaking local escorted us to the address. Then our tucked-away Lee House wasn't really ready for prime time. No AC, exploding sink tap, no door lock, so no charge for the first night. The pic is of our temporary $16 room; we'll be moving tomorrow.

I was last in Bangkok in 1986 and it is unrecognizable. But my first impressions are also tainted with the mobs at rush hour, the hordes of cars of the nouveau-riche, and the hot raspy polluted air. We've had some morning glory (a vegetable dish) and a Magnum ice cream bar. With a shower and swiveling fan, we've settled in with a Bang(kok).