WaDe In ThE WaTeR!

Today was the second consecutive day of rain. I mean thunderstorms with torrential downpours. Regardless of the rain, I decided to go out in the obstacles and brave the storm so to speak. I also decided that at this point in the game buying an umbrella was completely OUT of the question. Currently, It’s about 20 degrees in Mongolia; consequently that is my mind set when it comes to purchasing things I could use here but won’t use for the next 6 months in my homeland.  I also believe in mind over matter, and about 20 minutes into my escapades, the rain ceased.  On my outing, it also became immediately evident that in fact, the rain was perhaps the least of my worries. The streets were completely flooded.  The water at times coming practically up to my knees (at my 5’2 stature, that doesn’t take much).  Water was pouring out from ever crevasse from the street, and (this is attractive) from the sewage system.  

Also, and this is particularly my favorite parts, varmints started to appear from EVERYWHERE, hiding wherever they thought they may not be seen.  However, their little rat features (mainly their tails) hanging out of every hole made them quite visible. Some rats didn’t even bother to hide. It felt slightly intimidating to see how nonchalant they were about being out and about among us humans.  Also readily available (which venders were probably extremely happy about) were cockroaches. Having had a taste of one of these not so delicious specimens, it was less disturbing to see one or two out and about but quite disturbing to see a plethora of them making the Bangkok streets their homes.  After seeing these creatures, and many more bugs than just cockroaches, I decided that wading in the water was not so fun anymore and I could perhaps contract some sort of virus or skin disease (let’s face it the water must be filled with parasites). I consequently immediately sanitized my feet the moment I got back to the hotel room. Amazingly, by the time I arrived back at the hotel the water had begun to recede a noticeable amount. I was really only gone for an hour and a half if that says anything!  It was an interesting shopping experience, and I loved every strange moment of it.