July 4th in Bangkok

Elisabeth declared this a day to do nothing. If we had been back on the boat it would have been Pajama Day. But since we were in a hotel without room service, we were required to dress for the day.

The kids played trying to pick up tadpoles and tiny fish from the little ponds on the ground floor of our little hotel. All that vegetation harbors insects and they received several mosquito bites in spite of the insect repellent studiously applied.

I brought the laptop down to the dining area and uploaded photos while sitting directly in front of fans to keep the mosquitoes away from my legs.

The kids also brought their journals and updated entries for what they have done and seen since leaving the boat 5 days ago. Then they retreated back to the hotel room to play DS games and read.

Late in the afternoon Bill could not stand being cooped up another minute. He insisted both kids needed to go for a long walk and get some exercise and they reluctantly agreed. They returned with a freshly baked loaf of some type of sweet bread filled with raisins.

Pretty much a do-nothing day. Tonight I will pack up the duffel bags and have them brought down and stored near the hotel office. We need to take a taxi early tomorrow morning to the train station for our trip to Chiang Mai and I don't want to wake up all the other hotel guests hauling luggage down 3 flights of stairs at 06:00. The train departs at 08:30 and I want to visit the Advance Booking Office first and have our return tickets to Penang changed to July 13. It is supposed to be a 30 minute taxi ride to the train station, but we have seen rush hour traffic and think it might take up to an hour. Better to arrive at the terminal early rather than late. Should arrive in Chiang Mai around 20:30 tomorrow night.

Happy Independence Day to everyone back home!