Braving the Bangkok Heat Stroke

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Friday morning, I met up with the 4 Spaniards to get our visas from the embassy - no problem there. Then we went to Jim Thompson's house. I will explain:

Jim Thompson was an American who came to Thailand in the 60s -ish and totally rejuvenated the silk industry. He also bought 6 antique teak houses and combined them to make one. Then he filled it with Thai and Chinese artifacts. The crazy part is that he went to Malaysia for holiday and never came back. They spent 7 years looking for him, but they never found a clue. So anyways, his house is a tribute to all that he did. I would definitely have liked to live in this house. It was beautiful! Unfortunately, you couldn't really take pictures inside, but here's one that I could do:


After that we took a small river ferry towards the Temple of the Golden Mount. It was almost closing time, so we hurried up the tiered stairs, past little gardens and fountains, and up to a most spectacular city view. Here's a video panarama. The inside was pretty plain, compared to what we're used to seeing, but there will still some nice golden Buddhas all inside.



After that it was a yummy street dinner, then Skyping dad, then bed.

Today, I woke up and had a merry chase trying to find US dollars. Why do I need those, you ask? Because Myanmar requires them. Not only that, they require that each bill be in pristine condition - if not, they won't accept it! After an hour we finally found a good exchange center that had many to choose from - I scrutinized each one, much to the amusement/exasperation of my teller. But it's all done and I'm ready to leave tomorrow!

Afterwards we took a long route to the Chatuchack Weekend Market. It was huuuuge! So many stalls/vendors. It was fun to walk around, but it was so freaking hot that I was continuously buying drinks to stay hydrated. We were excited by a book section, but the selections was the blah Tom Clany/John Grisham/ every mundane mystery book you find in a ditch somewhere. So no buying. Oh well. Still an adventure.


We took the looong way home, had a siesta and then another great dinner on the street. Slow tonight, since we're leaving tomorrow at 430am! Ahh early!

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