And the rain kept pouring down

So the Democratic party escaped unscathed but Thai Rak Thai is to be dissolved, and its 111 party executives (including Thaksin, of course) have been banned from politics for 5 years. They had 13,000 armed police at the ready but apparently all was peaceful in BKK last night - some are speculating that this might change over the next couple of days but I guess it'll be a wait and see type of proposition. The end of the ruling didn't come until after 11pm last night. I guess judges work later in Thailand.

Anyway.

We spent today at temples - 3 of them to be exact. They were really quite extraordinary and each very different from the next. Today also happened to be Buddha's birthday, so with >90% of Thailand's population being Buddhist, it was pretty huge, especially in the morning at Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, which is the most popular of Chiang Mai's temples (of which there are many). Of course there was also the usual contingent of tourists too, so cameras were clicking everywhere, there were flowers and garlands, incense, children, shoes, prayers...

It was much more peaceful at the other two temples, although there were people quietly making food, floral arrangements and decorations for this evening's festivities. I'm not religious, but I had the feeling - one I've often had when visiting Buddhist temples - that were I to enter a religion, Buddhism would be it. I'm not sure how much of this is because of my cultural background and the resultant familiarity with the rituals and practices, but I do think a large part of it (apart, obviously, from my agreement with Buddhist principles) is the feeling that I would find a way to make it relevant to me, something that I don't feel about other organised religions.

Our guide for the day was a guy who spent 15 years as a monk, before his two older brothers died of HIV and he was forced to leave the monkhood to look after his mother. In the 10 years since then he's been a barber, a singer, a tourguide, a driver - a true jack of all trades. But he really wishes he could have remained a monk for life. He was a great guide.

It's now been raining for about 3 hours. It started the usual way - lightning, thunder, sheets and sheets of torrential rain. I was forced to resort to two minute noodles for dinner because it was too wet to go out in search of food. I am mourning the loss of a fabulous meal I will never be able to eat again.

And both BBC World and CNN are down.