Thailand Day #8
Sadly, our last full day in Thailand. Tom got up around 8am and headed down to the beach and catch some last rays. He tried to drag me with him, but I knew it was my last day of vacation- I slept until 10. We packed, had our last beachside breakfast and grabbed a pick-up truck back to the pier. Jumped onto a packed boat back to Ban Phe and were on the bus back to Bangkok by 2pm with sandwiches and chips. Got to watch a somewhat intriguing movie about two little thai kids and some elephants, but I have no idea what happened because we didn't get to see the end (oh-and I don't speak Thai).

Took the train back downtown and decided to stay at the Dusit Thani, a national hotel in the Pat Phong area, revenue from which keeps the king clothed. Finished up my last postcards in the room and headed ot the front desk to mail the entire pile. Our last meal in Thailand: Pizza Hut. Oh the irony...

We shopped the nightmarket a bit, Tom buying T-shirts and me picking up some little trinkets for souveneirs for teachers back here. The market was really bright and loud and ran right through an area known for its night clubs, strip clubs, you name it... so we got some pretty unique invitations.

Finally, we stopped for Thai foot massages. They were great though there were several times I wondered if her thumb was going to shove right through my foot. In the end, the pain was worth it!

I was totally pooped by the time we got to the hotel.. what a week!

Thailand Day #9
Woke up at 5am (its dark in Thailand that early, too). Had our free Thai breakfast and grabbed a taxi aroudn 6:30am... figured we had plenty of time to get to the airport (less than 30 min) before our 8:20 flight. We went about a block and stopped. Dead stop. Still no one moving. Still. I started getting nervous at the 5 min. mark. Tom started to get nervous when the taxi driver asked what time our flight was. Taxi driver got real nervous after we told him. 15 minutes.... The traffic light finally changed and we inched forward. It was a huge mess of traffic.... slowly.... slowly... finally we reached the bad intersection and we all caught a glipse of 20 or so runners with numbers on their fronts, jogging in place on the sidewalk. A race! Go figure... 6:30 am on a Sunday and Tom & I want to get to the airport. Of course... a race. ha!

Anyhow, we made it on time, thanks to our taxi driver and Tom's ANA Platinum Gold status. The airport was a madhouse and I was incredibly thankful not to be alone.

Then... it was goodbye to Thailand!!

(If you haven't gathered it yet, I had a fabulous time. I loved every minute of the vacation, loved Thai people, loved Thai food, and would definitely go back. I have been daydreaming about it for the week I have been back with the cold mountain wind bringing me back to Nagano reality. Go to Thailand!)