Happy New Year from Bangkok, January 1, 2016

Hello All; Happy New Year to Everyone. After an eleven hour train trip, in what could best be described as a "Cattle Car", I arrived in Bangkok at eight last evening. That was only about 30 minutes late. I have never seen such a dirty, broken piece of equipment. The car was filthy, there were three, and the windows seemed to have not been cleaned for a year. Taking photos was almost not possible. The backs of most seats were broken, and the seatback trays were not useable....bent beyond useage. I took a train over most of this route going north last year, and the train equipment was excellent. They charge about 36 dollars for the rail fare, and that included two snacks with drinks, and a hot lunch. After getting to my hotel, which is near the train station, I freshened up, then went out for the New Year celebration, with about a million others. I went at eleven, and got to the site,walking in 45 minutes. The countdown and fireworks were well worth the effort. After the event was over, the walk back took much longer...people partying everywhere, and food stands set up all over the roads and sidewalks. It was quite an atmosphere. I got to bed about 0130...being a teenager once again....in any event, no witnesses that know me....that I am aware of...so no further reports on this. This morning, I went out for breakfast, as that is not included here at this hotel. For that, I did what any Canadian would do...I went to a MacDonalds, and had a Big Mac, and coffee. It was good to have potatoes again....skip the rice for a day. I then walked to the area of the fireworks last evening, took more photos, and walked back to the hotel...out for about four hours. I wanted to do a quality assurance check at Swensen's,but could not find one.....must look into that. Since I required 40 minutes to check emails, and even get on Google, I will close for now.It may take a day or so to clear this page through the system. Again,I wish everyone all the best for the New Year.