Discharge Day!

It had to happen sooner or later and after seven days I’m out.  I was a bit nervous about being discharged because a person sort of becomes used to being looked after and all of a sudden you are on your own but I think I’ll be okay.  

Dr. Boy-

My stay at Bangkok Hospital was not cheap as there are 23 Thai baht in a dollar-

My week in the hospital including my surgery cost around $20,000.  Wow!  I am glad I have insurance although I would never travel without it and once my retired teacher’s insurance expires after 65 days I will get other insurance. One cannot be too careful!

I was discharged about 2 PM with a bag full of drugs and instructions about what to do for the next while.  I left my backpack at the hospital and walked to the Baandam Museum, known as the Black House. It’s the life work of Thawan Duchanee, a well-known Thai artist.  He likes weird stuff-

and horns, lots of horns-

There are over 40 buildings on the property and most are painted black-

It took Duchanee 50 years to develop the museum. They call his work folk art and he uses bones, skins and shells-

and paints-

He is also a woodworker-

I walked back to the hospital-

called a Grab and went to The Chiang Rai Hotel-

I picked it because it is close to the Clock Tower-

and downtown so I can walk everywhere.  I was feeling pretty tired and became apprehensive about continuing my trip. I had a headache.  You don’t get a lot of rest in the hospital because they are constantly giving you meds and taking your blood pressure. I forced myself to go out because I needed to find some coffee.  I was looking for a 1:2 Coffee shop.  Dr. Boy recommended it because it is local.  I found one but they would not give me a sample so I had to drink an Americano and now I am worried I won’t be able to sleep tonight. It was very good but they only sell beans by the kilogram.  A bag like that would practically fill my backpack so I realized I had to go to Starbucks after all.  Soon my headache was gone and I was feeling great.  I ran out of coffee two days ago so guess I was suffering from caffeine withdrawal.  I walked to the bus station and got information on how to get to the Golden Triangle which I will do on Friday and how to get to Chiang Khong where I will go on Saturday.  It’s the border town with Laos. I got a tuk-tuk-

to the shopping mall and what a place!  It’s very modern and in the middle of the aisles are all sorts of cheap food stalls. Octopus-

Sushi-

Skewers of meat-

and pork hocks-

I had a delicious spring roll then wandered by a shop giving art lessons-

and a children’s musical group-

I took a tuk tuk back to the bus terminal (tuk tuks are cheaper than Grab I just learned) then wandered looking for something to eat.  I found some steamed dumplings which were very good –

I also came across Wat Ming Muang which is over 700 years old and known as The Crouching Elephant-

Glass mosaics give the statues their sparkle-

Tonight will be a really big test to see what kind of pain I have come morning.  I’m hoping for a great sleep!

Tomorrow I will go back to the hospital to see the ophthalmologist and then visit the Blue Temple. It’s going to be an easy day.