We woke when the hostel's pool was scheduled to open for the day, to catch another dip before check-out. The hostelkeepers so kindly stored our backpacks for the afternoon, and we headed off for our final (for this trip, at least) Bangkok adventures.
After lunch, we walked east to the Golden Mount, a huge, gold, bell-shaped monument atop an artificial hill. King Rama III had originally tried to construct a giant chedi here in the early 1800's, but the structure was built on soft soil (Bangkok being essentially swampland) and it collapsed. Rama IV used a lumber-and-mud combo to create a fake mound first, then placed the chedi on the mound, nice and sturdy. 318 steps to the top!
At the top of the stairs, by the base of the golden chedi, was a room with several shrines and this fortune-telling station. Visitors kneel to pray, then shake the red cylinders of sticks back and forth until one stick falls out (no playing Pick-up Stix). Each stick is numbered, and each hopeful individual draws a paper from whichever compartment corresponds with the number on his or her first stick to drop. If the fortune is desirable, ringing each bell on the way down the steps will supposedly ensure the forecast comes to pass.
Making our way from the Golden Mount to Wat Suthat, we gulped water to replenish our sweaty selves, and passed by a Thai hardware store!
And Buddha shop.
Wat Suthat was beautiful and serene, except for an occaisional announcement from a megaphoned monk. This bronze Buddha was housed in a large hall, walls and columns covered in detailed paintings depicting the history of Bangkok and past lives of the Buddha.
Interestingly, the statues scattered around the temple grounds were Chinese; the various pagodas, animals, and sentries were brought to Bangkok as ballast aboard rice ships.
Wat Suthat is also known as the Temple of the Giant Swing...but not so much anymore. Outside the temple grounds is in fact an extraordinarily tall red wooden frame (I'd guess about 4 stories tall...wish I'd taken a photo, but at this moment I believe I was occupied by the deliciously icy slurpie I got from 7-Eleven), stationed right in the middle of a busy roundabout. The frame is all that's left of the giant swing, which was built at the beginning of the 1800's to be used in ceremonies thanking Shiva for the rice harvest. Well, things got a little out-of-control with the swing ("ceremonies" involved people trying to catch money being thrown from the crowd while riding the swing in teams), and due to so many injuries and deaths, the swing became but an archway in the early 1900's.
We walked some less-traveled streets back toward the river, and found a great market with flowers, produce, curries, and critters...
Then waited for the ferry to take us just a bit south back to Bamglamphu.
After a fantastic dinner (this was a peanut curry salad with pineapple, peas, etc.), we spent the last of our baht on Khao San Road, reclaimed our backpacks, and shuttled back to the airport for our 2 a.m. flight. We saw the sunrise in Beijing, then departed for Japan, where the sun set on our train ride from Tokyo to Shizuoka.
When we felt it time to tear ourselves away and see a bit more of our new neighborhood, we weaved the streets and located a shop with a vast selection of curry pastes, jarred curry mixes, and envelopes of mystery spices. Fabulous.
We hit Khao San Road. As featured in the opening scenes of The Beach (late 90's Leonardo DiCaprio flick...not very good), this uber-touristy street is lined with hostels, cafes, travel agencies, souvenir shops, and bars with chairs and tables spilling out onto the pavement. 
There were vendors pushing food carts up and down the street, people pushing beads and ornamented hats on tourists sitting along the road, and everywhere, unceasingly, men asking if we wanted a tuk-tuk ride to the red light district for a show. 
First event of the day: consult the map (I was really attached to this map).
This was our neighborhood for the first two nights: where cars come to die...or come after being stolen? Lots of metalwork going on.
There was a vast electronics market in Chinatown, complete with impromptu assembly-line stands right outside the stores.
Warding off con artists had been going so well...I slipped for one second, however, and this man wrote in pen on my map! We were not getting into the tuk-tuk he so kindly hailed for us, after telling us the Grand Palace was closed for a ceremony and we'd be much better off getting a ride across town to a different monument then coming back to this area later in the day.
Wat Pho: Temple of the Reclining Buddha. He's 15 meters high and 46 meters long, with his eyes and the soles of his feet covered in mother-of-pearl.
Chedis, chedis everywhere...
Messages written on shingles piled up for renovations:
We had green curry at this outdoor market, before ferrying across the chaotic Chao Phraya river to Wat Arun: Temple of the Dawn (though we visited near sunset).
Departing Wat Arun, we ferried back across the river and walked further north to catch our first glimpses of the Banglamphu neighborhood. For dinner, more curry!
We made a reservation for the next night at a hostel on the (in)famous Khao San Road, since this was the happening place for backpackers to congregate. Then we walked all the way back to our guesthouse (sore, dirty feet!).
After all that cheery reading, I was happy to see metered taxis waiting right outside the airport terminal. And while he did make a few passes around the block before stopping at our guest house, I'll give our driver the benefit of the doubt...the place was hard to find, tucked away in a riverside corner of Chinatown. 
We found an outdoor restaurant for our first taste of Thai...
And I thought Davin was going to die—he sure was rosy from our spicy greens.
We also discovered Chinatown has a back-alley cinema! I felt just like I was home in Eau Claire, in the alley of Graham Avenue (except for the thick smells, sweltering humidity, and Chinese lanterns hanging everywhere).
