Another interesting day here in the Land of Smiles!
It took a couple of hours to find a/ that getting a visa for Vietnam Is difficult and time consuming, contrary to the guidebooks b/ that there are/are not/ are/ are not / may be seats on the flight from Luang prabang to Siem Reap on the 27th c/ that Vietnam has a consulate in LP (result!) and d/ that there are 'lots of ways' to get from the Thai border at Nong Khai to LP tomorrow. Yeah right.
The afternoon was spent at Wat Pho, seeing a huge temple complex with the famous reclining Buddha. They don't tell you how massive it is. Seems crammed into a building too small for it to fit comfortably. Still, they make room for the alms bowls.
Good but don't get why the supplicants apply gold leaf to the statues. Also the temple shop was doing a roaring trade in incense sticks and lotus flowers, all of which were carefully placed by their purchasers & then swept away by a stony faced attendant a few minutes later, no doubt to re-sell!
Now on the overnight sleeper from Bangkok. As in India, it appears that the time displayed is not the time the train will depart but the time before which it will not depart!
More later.