rainy season coming early

been in thailand for about a week now, and realizing that i don't remember it being so rainy in april like this. if there's any question on climatic shifts, southeast asia is the answer.

went to koh kred today since i had the day and have never made the journey before. this is just prior to boarding the longboat (reference versus boat at left) in nonthaburi province (north of bangkok) on the way to the man-made island. pretty clever, 300 years ago they dug a channel to provide a quicker route to bangkok on the chao phraya river thus creating an island.

total price was not too bad - 15 baht from tah chang pier to nonthaburi (15 baht for return as well), then 100 baht for the boat tour of the island - three stops throughout the route - first in the marketplace, next a peek at a local dessert shop, and then a stop at a temple.

it was worth the journey overall, as there's not a great deal of foreigners, and the island keeps with some an older style of life. the only bad part was really that on the longboat journey it dumped buckets of rain on us, and me of course always refusing to carry an umbrella.

went to chinatown tonight with some people from the factory i visited in chacheongsao and finally had birds nest soup - quite sweet. the rain picked up again there, so we called it an early one.

tomorrow i intend to rest a little, and then off to pak chong on tuesday i believe.