The madness has begun. My morning run takes me along Mittrapap Highway just before the Khon Kaen turn off. Almost all of the Isaan bound traffic from Bangkok passes by this point. This morning the highway was jammed: Bangkok taxis crammed with people and stuff. Highway buses bound for the provinces full of sleeping travelers. Pickup trucks jammed to the gills with people and household goods.
(Why do people going home for the holidays feel the need to take along their refrigerators, fans and wardrobe cabinets? Or, have these people given up on Bangkok and staying home for good?)
One bus had broken down; it's tired and hapless passengers lolling about the highway median with no relief in sight.
The roadside is full of vendors hoping to take advantage of the traffic slowdown as the highway approaches Korat. Every sort of food is available along with bags of soft drinks and pump action squirt guns.
The highway police have a tent right at the Khon Kaen turnoff. They've got a TV inside this year for their entertainment. There's also a coffee pot with free coffee for tired drivers and bottles of ice cold water which they even offered to this not-so-tired runner.
While I was out getting my exercise Ms. AC cleaned the Buddha images in our room. Sorry I didn't get a pic of that most original and genuine of Songkran activities. There's still a dozen to go in the living room.
It was quite cool and overcast this morning. I wonder if the normal April heat will return for tomorrow revelry?