steppin’ out

Just wanted to put down this experience before i forget it completely.

While in Bangkok last month i went out with my 5 year old fan to Makro to get some fresh veggies and raisins, and of course corn flakes for her 🙂  Bangkok is a huge city, but quite dirty.  It is the only place in the world where i have had 2(!) cockroaches climb up my leg while eating at a restaurant.

Anyway, sidewalks are not really safe with all the holes and motorcycles etc., and while it is very unlikely you will die if you don’t watch every step as in countries like India or Cambodia (what sidewalk?) or Georgia, the chances that you will meet with some kind of accident of running into wires or stepping into holes or cracks and wind up in the hospital are quite high.

The two of us were walking one morning around 10am down a street near the immigration office.  There aren’t many shops there, and with a university on one side, greenery is surrounding both sides of the 2-lane road.  Sidewalks in Bangkok are also all potential shop-opening places, with many people pushing their restaurant to some prime location every day.

After walking in front of some old building which had a nice green hedge, i turned to look at my protege who was following.  She held a leaf or something in one hand, and while usually she would start talking to me when i looked at her (she’s female OK?  They like to TALK) instead of saying something, she looked intently at something on the ground around my feet.  I was still walking forward, and tried to follow her gaze.  My very next step slid out from under me!  What is going on!  Is it an earthquake? no, noooo, it’s a, it’s a SNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKE!!  About 80-90cm long, and bigger around than my finger, the pretty light-green thing, obviously shocked out of its senses too, slithered quickly to the side of the sidewalk just before the restaurant and up and over the hedge.

Whew!