Bangkok. Or the great royal waste of time....(the peanuts were good!)

Bangkok. Full day 1.
The day started with a 2 hour massage. Thai massage. Awesome. The massage school is at a wat (temple) and although we no longer go upstairs (where the ceiling above is made of frescos of the Buddha), the massage on the ground floor is phenomenal. Two hours, plus a tip is $10. Thai massage is about manipulation and stretching. I love it. Although I may walk away from the first one bruised and battered, they get better and better with time.
From there, we went to Chinatown. It is Chinese New Year, year of the Horse. It is very different than 2 years ago- that was the year of the Dragon, AND, there was not political unrest as there is here today. It looked quite tame, and we were told the parade was at 5pm. Nope, that was the arrival of the queen mother. (Wife of the king, not mother of the king). People lined the streets. And then she went by. And then the crowd dispersed. We had eaten dinner (A whole other story of nasty looks and an inablity - or selective ability- to understand what we wanted- needless to say, it was not a very satifying meal). So, after walking a bit, and hearing that the parade would be at 8pm, we looked for a cafe to sit and wait. We found one, ordered some food and drinks and parked for 3 hours. Watching the crowds grow. The parade of people was amazing. All walks of life, tourists from Europe, Asia, America....commerce and lots and lots of police. finally, early, at 7:30 the motorcade went by. No parade, the motorcade of the queen, and her people.
yep. that was it.
And the peanuts? From the restaurant. You need peanuts for a parade....maybe we will save them for next year......

I'm leaving, on a jet plane.....

Here I am, in Maui, taking a break from the great packing adventure. I hate this particular part, love the result. Pack for 2 extremely different climates, Nepal where it is cold, and Thailand and the Philippines where it is summer and hot. What do I take and what do I leave. So, it is all layed out on the bed, I am taking a break, watching whales and hoping to get in the habit of writing. Blogging. Whatever.
The weather here in Maui has been rainy and icky for 2 days. Good for me, as I can get things done without looking longingly at the ocean and the pool.
First stop is Bangkok, meeting up with Tom and Tali who have already arrived. Tom is reporting on the insurgence in Thailand which I must admit I have not paid much attention to. I imagine I will have a crash course in politics as soon as I arrive. I am looking forward to massages by the river and the controlled chaos of the Wats although I imagine there might not be too many tourists. Only the crazy, thrill seeking, Nepal going people like us.
My life is blessed. I know that. I am done apologising for how I got where I am. Silly to think
I have to apologise for people dying. This is my life, warts and all. I am blessed to live it and
I know, without a doubt that those who went before me would be thrilled at the travel I am doing.
Enough of that. I am now writing on a tablet. The next adventure will be figuring out how to get things from dropbox or my camera on to the blog.....might be the most challenging or at least frustrating part of this all.
Aloha.