Klong Ka Cha Saturday Walk

Only in Bangkok would you be walking down a suburban canal and come across a baby elephant camp with their mahouts in a abandoned half-built house and garden.

My daughter was going to school at the old Hua Mak campus so I had her drop me off over there with the intention of walking home. I know very little about these canals closer to town so started my exploration walking west on Klong Ka Cha. Just after starting I found the elephants. They are probably in for the New Year and will be collecting money in some of the busier shopping and entertainment areas. Shame it's the only way the mahouts can make money. Not too long and the working elephant will be gone forever except for the cultural shows.

The canal smelt a bit and the water colour was gray so I guess in the more built up areas quite a bit more human waste is entering the water. It would be good if the local authority could find a way of cleaning them up. Even an increase of water flow would help. Maybe they could open up the water gates more often to keep a flow going.

The walk was far longer than I planned, about 6 kilometers in total, and I'm suffering a bit of burning on my arms. That will teach me to be a bit more careful. I had to do about 2 kilometers along the railway under the new airport railway viaduct. The path I was walking on, head-down, was dusty and it was a midday sun. Having just seen the Lawrence of Arabia DVD I was expecting someone to shout Lawrence after me and I was thinking how I would blow up the rail track.

Also just finished watching John Hurt in the "Alan Clarke Diaries" and half way through BBC's adaptation of Le Carré's "A Perfect Spy". Both are new to me and I am enjoying this TV I never saw at the time. I have been picking off specials on Amazon UK recently and two series from Yorkshire TV of a spy thriller called "The Sandbaggers" came today. Arrived in five days over the Christmas period. Not bad.