Well, here are some pics from my visit to Suphanburi, home of old friend Jirapan, a very famous new Chinese temple, the wonderful "buffalo village", several renowned Buddhist temples, and a lovely recreational lake complete with zoo, botanical gardens and "Bunny Paradise Island." Two days with no other farang in sight, and the wonderful sounds of the Thai countryside, most notably the amazing birds singing all around. I managed to find, with some help from a friendly Thai Tourism rep, the minivan station that runs vans every half hour to Suphanburi, and the hour and a half trip brought me back to my old Phanat Nikhom days, when I took daily minivans to the refugee camp past similar rice paddies and scenes of country living. Had to play my ipod for the occasion, and even had the same REM song playing that I listened to often while I traveled. Jirapan showed me the sights of her scenic province in her spiffy little car. It's a lovely little side trip, off the beten track from most foreigners' itineraries.
Hooked up with Sunee my last night in Bangkok and had a short but sweet visit with her before catching the early morning flight home.
Highlights from my trip:
motorcycle taxis around Bangkok--cool breeze in the face, darting in and out between stopped cars, swerving into opposide lane of traffic, all the noise and smells of the city amplified...
walking around the streets of the city, more smells-diesel fumes, raw sewage, incense, rotting garbage, meat grilling on open fires, fragrant flowers---I LOVE the smells of the city!--noise, so many sights, little glimpses of beauty amidst the larger ugliness of the cement and wire and trash and smoke and rusted tin roofs and more trash and masses of people...
Rode my first buffalo! HaHa Mary Doyle! Hung out with a whole stable (of sorts) of water buffalos, including a couple rare white buffalos and one dwarf buffalo...
of course the train trip--48 hours through Malaysia and southern Thailand, the "goal" of this trip which I'd dreamed about doing for 25 years...
The lovely and surprising Hat Yai, a charming small town
Holding hands with an orangutan in Suphanburi

Okay, gotta go visit with my wonderful husband who cheerfully took over all responsibility for the kids and the myriad animals and encouraged me to take this trip by myself even though I know he wasn't as excited as he pretended to be to send me halfway around the world alone...I'm happy to be home and happy to have had the chance to "close" my Thailand chapter, to come full circle and see it again from a new perspective. Still the same wonderful exciting and stimulating place and I'll be back again someday, maybe with the whbole family next time.....