11
Location: Bangkok
Today was the first free day of our trip, and although we were all upset to leave behind the incredibly warm and kind people of the Klong Toey community, we were equally excited to spend the day exploring the markets of Bangkok. After four hours of intense shopping (highlights include rice hats, delicious spring rolls, and elephant pants for only 150 baht) the group was exhausted but was able to muster up enough energy to move on to our second adventure of the day, the famous Jim Thompson House. While there, we learned all about the production of silk and the life and mysterious disappearance of Jim Thompson while continuing to immerse ourselves in the Thai culture. After arriving back at the hotel, we all decided to spend some time hanging out by the pool before heading out to a nearby Indian restaurant for dinner (Shout out to Simran for knowing exactly what to order). We finished off the night with a Thai snack food challenge that our translator and resident Thai expert Aom set up for us; having us taste everything from the Thai version of a Rice Krispy treat to dried durian — seeing everything Thailand had to offer today made us all so appreciative of the fact that we still nine days to enjoy this wonderful country.