A Final Bangkok Goodbye

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Our last week in Bangkok was bittersweet. We had spent a total of three months in Thailand with almost half of that time in Bangkok, and it had become a very comfortable southeast Asian home away from home. We did some Christmas shopping at the mall, which was surprisingly decked out in red and green decorations. We went to the Chatuchak weekend market, ate at our favorite restaurants, saw a movie in "VIP" seats with blankets and reclining chairs, wandered through a local market in search of a giant clay mortar and pestle to take home, and helped Joey decorate his apartment with Chirstmas lights.

A few days before our departure to Japan was the Thai King's 80th birthday. The city erupted in celebration of yellow, the King's color. Parades marched through the streets carrying candles, and we stood with thousands of Thais to watch fireworks erupt over the city. It was a fitting end to our time in Southeast Asia.

The day before our flight to Tokyo we struggled to stuff everything we had collected (including a large mortar and pestle, an assortment of Christmas gifts, rolled up paintings, and a four-foot wooden staff from Indonesia) into our packs, ate a last meal of fantastic Thai seafood, and slept fitfully in anticipation of our departure. In the morning we climbed into our last Thai taxi and left Bangkok on the 90th day of our 90-day visa, flying to our last stop before we would finally return home.

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