What a day! Having had very little sleep on the night flight over to Bangkok, I think most of us felt the need to sleep when we arrived at our hotel close to the airport, but the heat and excitement of being in Thailand made sleeping somewhat difficult. So, most of us rested, while others ventured out immediately to explore their local vicinity. At around lunchtime, we headed into the city with our guides Richard, Koko and Jip. First stop was MBK, a mega shopping mall, we ate in the international food court and did a little bargain hunting. Then we walked through the bustling streets of downtown Bangkok to get to Jim Thompson's silk museum, were we saw traditional Thai architecture, Thai dance, and learned about the art of silk weaving. From there, we caught the bus to a local restaurant (yes, more food!) where we were exposed to an array of new spices and flavors, mostly delicious, others too hot. The highlight of the day was the visit to Lumpini Park and Wat Saket. Fortunately for us, today was the Lord Buddha's birthday, so we got to participate in the ritual ceremony held at the temple along with 1000's of other Thai locals, who all made their way up to the top of the temple and circled it three times- symbolic in Thai Buddhist culture. Dead on our feet, we caught the bus back and crashed at the hotel.
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