Sleepy Now. Bangkok Smells.

Yesterday we spent most of our daylight hours at the largest shopping monstrosity in Thailand, MBK. It's about ten stories, and when you peer down a shop-crammed corridor surging with human beings you can't make out the end. It's kind of gross. Good buys, though.

Today we went to Chinatown, which is a lot like every other Chinatown in every major city: a hodgepodge of stink, voices, and raindrops; piles of chestnuts, roasted duck and pig faces, dried shrimp in sacks, tea, baubles; an aching overload on the senses. For some reason buying streetside junk was more expensive than elsewhere in Bangkok, and when the rain came we were the first to leave. I'd heard this week was the Chinese-Thai Vegetarian festival, and although most restaurants did promote their vegetarian selections prominently, I didn't see any bold monks impaling their cheeks with spikes or walking on coals, as I'd heard was the story. No fun.

Back to Khao San. We're always here, avoiding buying anything usually, but now we get to spent money. Lots of fun. I'll be going now.