Well, who would have thought a monsoon would be that WET?

One of the things i was nervous about in coming to Thailand was that it was monsoon season. I mean, i'm a Canberra boy, so i'm used to miserable cold and drought and wind and etc. so the prospect of 30 degree+ rain falling a lot wasn't terribly attractive. I kind of forgot about that aspect once i got here, because while it was very hot, it didn't really rain for the first few days.

So, yesterday i went out for a walk in the park. Once i find a place where i can post my pictures online this will be easier to explain, but i think i found Bangkok's 'Central Park'. It's a stretch of lush green parkland that stretches on past a large business district. It's only about 1 1/2 km wide, but from my wanderings yesterday i have to guess it's at least 10km long, possibly a lot longer.

So i'm wandering through the park, and i'm getting a real romantic vibe from the setting. You know those soppy romantic movies where couples take picnic rugs down by the river to have picnics and punt on the Thames and all that shamozzle? I thought that was by and large romantic claptrap (that's right, why don't i just say Christmas, humbug!) but it turns out that there were a lot of couples just sitting back and enjoying themselves by the river that runs through this park. I guess it's a little easier to do that here then in Canberra. The thing that i found particularly interesting was how many people were doing this at 4:30 in the afternoon. I'm not sure how Thai work hours line up with Australian hours, so i might be missing an obvious explanation.

Anyway, it was cloudy when i went out walking, but nothing threatening when i set out. Over the next 45 minutes, clouds kept gathering. So, eventually i figure i'd probably better set back to the hotel. Hoorah for long walks.

The onset of the monsoonal rain was like nothing i've seen before. The clouds suddenly darkened up, and the light went away so suddenly and totally it was like there was a change in air pressure. For all i know, there could of been. And then the rain comes.

I've been stuck in some pretty awesome rain storms, but this one is probably the 2nd most spectacular ever (the 1st was the New Years one in Canberra which felt like it was going to flood the place). I was lucky because it didn't fully hit until i was about 400 metres away from the hotel, but in that 400metres i was completely soaked. It was kind of nice, given it was so warm, but i felt thoroughly ridiculous. So, all these dignified hotel staff were confronted with a soaked hulking, unshaven and thoroughly bedraggled Australian dripping his way through the hotel lobby while giggling. Fun.

I got to try out the pegless washing line which Bob recommended, and it works very well. I'm not sure whether or not to go out on another excursion today, because it's looking threatening as hell. I think i might go browse the markets again, they're good fun.