It is a quiet afternoon here, about 34 degrees, and very dry. I was out for a while this morning, and find the place very active. Udon Thani has a population of around 400 Thousand; ..that depends on whether you believe the Chamber of Commerce equivalent, or the tax collection people.
One block from my hotel is a lake of just over a mile square area containing a great park. The park is called Nongprajak Park, and contains wide bike/walking trails, hundreds of assorted palm trees and others, as well as plants galore. I did a two hour walk there yesterday morning...many bike rental posts, paddle boats etc. It is one of the nicest city parks that I have ever seen. At the entrance is a kids zone called Dino-land, with huge dinosaurs, birds etc, such that kids do not want to leave....even the big kids.
The hospital where my friend is faces this lake and park, so staff and patients that are able can go out for strolls as they feel like it. The hospital complex is huge, connected buildings for more than a kilometer along the lake and off to the side.
Family and friends from the family's home village..So Phisai is three hours away; They drive down, visit for an hour or so, then have lunch and return home. Someone is with him at all times.
The hospital is just one block from my hotel, so it is very convenient for visits, and a drop in for family if they wish.
At this time, there is no indication of how long I will be here, it will of course depend on how my friend recovers. At this time, it looks like a very slow recovery,,some days good, others not so good.
In any event, since this is the closest airport to the family farm/village, I am booked to start my trip home from here on January 31 at noon. I have two nights booked in Bangkok, and fly out of there to Tokyo and on at six in the morning, February 2.
Before starting this page, I checked the statistics for this past week...this blog read by folks in Canada, Thailand, Brazil, Ukraine and Portugal.
I will do an update in about a week
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