Observation:
Street
sweepers - a person, broom and catch pan in hand, moves down the gutter
area of a street and sweeps up junk - swifting it into the pan. I've
seen'm in town and once on a bit of a rural section (that still had a
curb).
================
A free day. What to do on a free
day - sleep in might be a bit nice! Not too late though and at 8:30 am
I was up. Figure out the shower - it has an "instant" hot water
heater on the wall much like at Felipe's place - except this one wasn't
putting out hot water. No lights. Hmmmm - I was going to ask the front
desk if they could look at it (maybe a circuit was turned off) when I
noticed the on/off switch on top. Ahhhh, a decent shower. Out of the
room I went to the front desk to ask if they knew of anyplace for
"Internet, e-mail". They do! and it's in a different location than the
"other" place. It's close and I find it easy enough - but another dead
end. No connecting laptops to the system. When I pulled out the flash
memory key and showed it to the guy - pointing to the computer it
simply brought another emphatic NO. Both times he pointed in the
direction of the "other" place. Another dead end.
Since the
train station was around the corner I figured a stop by there would be
good. A plus is that it was filled with people - perhaps a train is
soon to arrive? I went into the ticket counter and checked the
schedules. Not more than 15 minutes or so for the next train (there
were perhaps 16 trains listed - busy place - passenger trains get used
here).
They had perhaps 80 people waiting about. Nearing the
arrival time a station person started to cart out cargo and place it on
the platform. The security guy, MP3 player and headphones in use, was
walking about keeping an eye on the goings on - of which I was a
curiosity. With a smile he struck up a short conversation with me -
asking if I was from CNN (that's a new one). I said no - just me - and
then handed him a card and said "Internet" - pointing from camera to
card. He seemed to get it - replying Internet and wanting to keep the
card. Perhaps the MP3 player he had would be a tip-off that he uses a
computer - possibly connected to the Internet.
Train in and gone
I was able to get some decent photos. More "self powered" cars. I think
this set had two of them - one near each end - but not at the ends.
Leaving
the station I headed back to the hotel to get the bike and do some
riding before the afternoon showers come in. It seems that right about
3 pm the showers start and last about 30 to 40 minutes. The day is
decent before and after that spot. Things dry out reasonably well after
the rains.
Since last evening I went to the west northwest - and
I originally came into Buri Ram from the southwest and would be
departing to the northeast so I wanted to visit some of the east and
maybe southeast. Mostly accomplished I started by taking a highway
northeast for maybe 30 minutes. From there I just picked a side road
and turned right. No map outside of the GPS and the tracklog on its
screen. I wound left, right, straight, wherever. The roads went from
asphalt, gravel, brick, dirt, cement and back again.
The
countryside was much the same through it all - small villages about 10
minutes apart. Trees were fairly common. I don't know what the crop is
- rice? but it seemed like some farmers were getting ready to plant as
they were out working the soil. Some farmers were out tending livestock.
Getting
back to Buri Ram I gave a chance that the parts might be in and drove
by the dealership. I stayed on the bike, in the street, and the worker
for my job noticed me right away. He put on a big smile and held up a
plastic bag motioning for me to come on up. Cool - the parts are in! He
put the bike up on a rack and started to work on it - leaving the job
he had been working on. I tapped him on the shoulder and motioned for
him to complete the scooter first. 'twas nice that he was willing to
jump at my job though.
The Honda folks were as welcoming as the
last time I was there. I had some water with me but they still offered
coffee. Some of the folks came over to look at the laptop. Google Earth
to show where "home" is and the web browser to run through some photos
of this trip.
Job done we took some photos - I had also taken
some while the process was going on. The worker took the bike for a
spin around the block - something they did to each bike when they
finished working on it. He probably doesn't get much of a chance to
ride anything larger than a 150 cc unit (though many of the bikes here
are two stroke and I'm sure some might well have a better power to
weight ratio than this bike. "Hopped up" bikes [more than just bling]
are somewhat common).
Parking the bike at the hotel I did some
walking. A sucker for carbs - errr bakery - I purchased some sweets at
one stop. Still strolling - with some of the streets being on an angle
- I started to think about how I would find my way back. No GPS rolling
with me. Hmmm - then I noticed the communications tower that is across
the street from the hotel. A handy landmark to use (when I could see
it).
The town has a decent selection of stuff - some in the
process of being made and some being purchased goods on display for
sale. Soccer balls, backpacks, coloring books, drug store items,
lawnmowers, hydraulic pumps, oxy-acetylene gas tubing, sacks of stuff
(farm goods?), a store for lubricants (with the standard S.A.E.
labels). Many items - particularly "home" cooked food items - are
packaged in clear plastic bags. The bags are twisted and tied shut such
that air is trapped in the bag - blowing it firm like a balloon.
With it makes for a nice presentation.
Making it back to
the hotel I wanted to finish the night off with a trip to the grocery
store (look for some granola bars), head over to their "night market"
(lots of food - the only item I recognized was an ear of corn), and to
the pizza spot for some dinner (not being adventurous for the night
market foods - though I'm sure it would be less expensive than the
"western" pizza joint).
The Pizza Company - reasonable pizza. I
stopped in last evening and ordered a Hawaiian, pan, medium (there was
no personal or small). Medium is about 12" in diameter. Well, I stopped
in again tonight - figuring I'd eat half now and half in the morning
(the hotel has a fridge). The kid taking the order seemed to falter
just a bit at the order stage - and now I know why. I ordered "classic
Italian" and they came up with Hawaiian. No biggie. Eating half I
brought the other half up motioning to have it wrapped to go. At the
bike I had the pizza bag hanging from the left handlebar when I noticed
a guy heading towards me. He recognized me and I remembered him from
earlier in the day - I had the impression then he was a street person
(I was carrying food then too - bakery goods). As he neared he pointed
to his mouth. I gave him the pizza bag and he pulled out the pizza box
and handed the bag back. He continued walking the way he was headed.
Never said or acknowledged anything. I hope he likes Hawaiian.
I
should keep photos of some things in the camera. I was walking about a
grocery store today in search of some granola. If I had a photo of a
box of granola (Nature Valley - Green box) that might make the search
easier - something to show one of the store workers.
|
