bomb!

There was a bomb at the post office a couple of days ago.  No one was killed, but something like 15 people were injured. They also found a non-exploded bomb at the VNese embassy and one at the domestic airport.  The VNese embassy is also right next to the ministry of foreign affairs.  Then, a day ago there was a big fire by the morning market.  Apparently it wasn't a bomb, but no one is sure whether it was set on purpose or was just an accident.  Right across from the Dokmaideng Hotel, near the tourism ministry. Someone said that it was a VNese neighbourhood and maybe that's why there was a fire.  But no one really has a clue.

Generally people are not scared scared yet, but they are nervous.  People say they don't go to any places where there are alot of people, like the morning market.  Or now the post office.  But it's crazy!  There's really no police or soldiers around and looking official - like the post office looked totally normal the next day.  It's kind of weird.  I don't feel nervous in the slightest, but if anything happens to make me nervous, don't worry, I'll be on the next flight out of here.  Actually, if things escalted so it wasn't safe I'm sure alot of the foreigners would be told to go home.  Nuts, eh?  It's such a waste and so stupid - tourism is going to go WAY down and the economy's going to be totally in the shitter if foreign investment pulls out.  And then what, like it will be a good situation for whoever is unhappy to suddenly be brought to the table and made comfortable. I don't know.  It just seems like such a waste. 

Can you imagine in VN if the main post office was bombed?  There'd be, like, a mazillion soldiers there forever.  That's one thing I've got to say about VN is that I sure didn't feel scared about things like that.  Maybe a little nervous about some cops, but not about big-S Security.  But really, please don't worry about me, just want to keep you up to date on what's going on. Otherwise not much else new.  Loads of rain yesterday.  Slept in today by accident and had to speed to work. 

I think I slept extra hard because there's a moronic rooster who starts crowing at the ridiculous hour of 3 am, prior to ANY sunshine whatsoever, and so I wake up then and then have to concentrate extra hard to block out his crowing, and then I think I block out additional actual-morning cock-a-doodle-doos.  Funny, there was a teacher cock-a-doo-le-dooing in my dream, then I woke up and it turned out to be the rooster. 

Ooh, yesterday we went to a neat place where there are all these funky funky buddha and buddhist-story sculptures.  There's the big happy lying down buddha, and then a bunch of others - one where you climb into the mouth of hell, but can climb up to heaven, a really horrifying looking giant with glass eyeballs who's holding a dead, limp woman in his outstretched arms, a Khmer guy pulling the back leg of a giant cricket, elephants, dancers with long fingernails, and lots more goodies.  It's on the bank of the MIGHTY MEKONG across from Thailand, near the bridge.  We also went to the Ethnic / cultural park where they have fakey models of houses, dancers, singers, some monkeys and birds, and souveniers.  There was essentially no one else visiting the place, so it was pretty quiet. [Laos-3-August-2000]