K was well enough to head out. First stop talat sao (morning market), s sprawling ramshackle local market with rubbish strewn everywhere and vendors selling meat, vegetables, cooked food, provisions, vcds/dvds, electronics, fabric, everything but tamarind paste sweets.
Found the LP-type pouches here but the designs were not as nice and it was more expensive.
K headed off to the national museum and I took off for wat si muang to check out the city phallus (lak meuang). Still in active use, there were people presenting offerings, using divination sticks and still others sought protective strings tied around the wrist by a monk.
Then on to haw phakaew, former royal temple, 5K kip. There’s 2-tier pricing here, locals pay 2K kip. Not much in the sim beyond a collection of buddha statues with no explanatory notes.
Hide-from-heat stop at scandinavian bakery. Chocolate donut (7K kip) and mixed fruit shake (8K kip).
Went to samsenthai fried noodles for lunch. Had the special yellow fried noodles (14K kip) and ice coffee (6K kip). The noodles came with beef and veggies, tasty but oily. The coffee was ridiculously sweet. 15K kip tuk-tuk ride back to hotel.
US$5 for airport transfer and US$10 for international departure airport tax.