{"id":2115,"date":"2012-03-09T13:55:48","date_gmt":"2012-03-09T06:55:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/?p=2115"},"modified":"2012-03-09T14:06:58","modified_gmt":"2012-03-09T07:06:58","slug":"mekong-days","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/2012\/03\/09\/mekong-days\/","title":{"rendered":"Mekong Days"},"content":{"rendered":"

[Written Friday, March The 9th, Afternoon]<\/h4>\n

Nong Khai, yet another wonderful little town in which I\u2019ve spent far more time that I\u2019d ever intended. Tomorrow, will be moving on to Phimai, before (I\u2019m thinking) a quick jaunt to Bangkok to check on the Durian situation and pay homage to Lumphini Park, before scooting off, finally, to Angkor Wat.<\/p>\n

Yesterday, paid visit to the main city park, about an hour\u2019s walk from the Guest House. On the way there, passed these guys unloading this gazebo\u2026<\/p>\n

\"gazebo\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2026from the back of this pickup truck.<\/p>\n

\"truck\"<\/a><\/p>\n

They came pretty close to dropping it \u2013 but were at last able to prevail.<\/p>\n

Located right next to the park, yet another extraordinarily beautiful and\u00a0 surprisingly well-maintained temple.<\/p>\n

\"temple1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Unique Naga feature du jour: neck raised up, rather than resting on the railing.<\/p>\n

\"neck\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I\u2019m telling you: every single temple\u2019s got something different about its Naga. Pretty fantastic. Inside, the mural scene was of quite excellent quality.<\/p>\n

\"mural\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cBut-but-but,\u201d I hear you wondering, \u201cwhat about, wasn\u2019t there any kind of a giant golden chicken anywhere?\u201d Friends, would you believe two<\/em> giant golden chickens, guarding the front gate?<\/p>\n

\"chickens\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Holy god damn moly, this was one of the best temples yet!<\/p>\n

\"temple2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The park was pretty nice, though almost entirely deserted. Was by this time getting quite hot, too. We topped the mercury off at 104\u00b0<\/strong>. That\u2019s frickin’ goblin<\/em> weather, right there. (Er, goblins like it hot and humid, right? Or\u2026do they live in caves?)<\/p>\n

At nights, when it cools down, I go in for juggling right there overlooking the Mekong. Around the same time, these kids show up and haul this barrier thing out from under the stairs leading down to the river to use for to doing skateboard tricks with. Gotta say, it\u2019s pretty mesmerising watching them take their turns.<\/p>\n

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