Cacophonous Sleep

The flat wooden seats on a Thai "ordinary" class train (read regular working peoples train) are only slightly less hard than the flinty heart of a bank foreclosure agent. Yet the Thai travelers endure them with a smile. I, however, pull out my trusty little therma-rest cushion and then, only then, smile as well.

What mystifies me, is how anyone gets a nights sleep. The many and various night noises, even in the cities and towns, is simply amazing.

How I wish I could put proper, scientific names to the night orators, but I cannot. First, there is the rhythm bird, which makes a steady, paced, "how-how-how" with the accuracy of a metronome. Then there is my favorite, the Road-runner bird, which does a perfect imitation of the Warner Bros. cartoon character of old, complete with the little raspberry at the end. This incites the "Who?-How?" bird, a creature of amazing volume and a knack for perching in the eaves of guest houses.

None of my feathered friends, however, holds a candle to the tiny tree frogs. How it is possible for so diminutive a creature to create such an amazingly vibrant chorus just plumb evades me.

Once all of these critters reach their nocturne of full voice, all mismatched rhythms and keys, it becomes natures version of free jazz from hell.

Yet my Thai brothers and sisters seem to sleep right through it. No people who possess such quick and ready smiles could be sleep deprived.

From Lopburi, I bid you a fond goodnight. Now where are those ear plugs?