Days 5 - 7, Feb. 26 - 28

Sunday I waited for a grocery delivery between 12 and 2 pm that never came. That basically killed the day, so it was my second day of rest in a row. I studied about taxis to see what I could improve.
Monday was "buy phone" day. I had the front desk order me a cab and only took it as far as the nearest BTS (skytrain) station.  It only cost 90 baht, compared to 165, yesterday. Still some work to do here.

I took the skytrain to MBK, a very modern mall. It is the size of one of our malls, but 7 stories tall. It has over 2000 stores in it, many kiosks, about 8 feet by 6 feet big. the top floor has two theater complexes, a bowling alley, and a couple dozen more stores.

I got a phone like my previous trac phone, it doesn't have android. Calling the U.S. is 1 - 3 Baht per minute, but texts are 10 baht each to the U.S.. (1 baht = 3 cents)

I did some exploring and then came how. I flagged down my first taxi and got home from the nearsest skytrain station for only 39 baht. I was happy, I gave him 45, for a tip of 6 (about 20 cents). This was much improved over yesterday's 500 baht ride home. I learned that taxi drivers prefer small, short trips. They get 35 baht for someone getting into the car.

Monday, I was expecting a grocery delivery, trying to get this right. However, it wasn't until 6 p.m. I made an appointment to play a wargame tomorrow. I decided to go for a walk and explore the area. I ended up walking all the way to the skytrain, about 1 mile. I will have to take pictures next time. Lots of fascinating things to see. Although I had about 4 hours to kill, I stayed in the area because I had not brought my passport. Being this far back after only 3 days of exercise and 2 days rest is a good sign. Also, now I don't have to worry about how to call a taxi to pick me up at my hotel.

Namaste from (halfway to) Nepal