It is really too hot these days to do any visits to places that are not air conditioned. Still, we went to visit the Wat Pho temple complex which is worth a good sweat. And best of all, it has a massage school which was founded to make sure the Thai art of massage and ancient healing would not get lost to the tablet and smart phone generation. Part of the temple is dedicated to the art of healing massage with ancient stone tablets explaining which touch heals which body part. I had expected a large waiting time to get a massage but I was wrong, some 40 or so masseuses (presumably in training, though we couldn’t tell), in white dentist uniforms stood at the ready. The prices are a little more than at our local massage place but still little and still worth every baht. I was glad to contribute this way to the upkeep of the magnificent temple complex and the ancient art of massage-healing. We received an expert treatment and our feet, having been massaged so much in these last two weeks, are starting to limber up. I didn’t hear Axel whimper one bit.
We collected ourselves at Starbucks which will forever be associated with respite from the great heat, and less so with free wifi which requires putting in your passport data and more complicated stuff when you are a foreigner.
On the way home we stopped at the massage place and had a Thai massage. The last Thai massage Axel had was in Kabul when the Thai lady walking over his body broek (we think) a rib. I remember Axel letting out a fierce cry. It ahs taken more than 5 years for him to try again. It was a good experience, no ribs broken and much tightness released.
At night we found another mall (all have foodcourts and airco) for dinner and had our first and one and only sushi dinner of this vacation. It was our farewell meal.
A few hours later I helped Axel drag his overstuffed duffle bag (no wheels!) to the train for the airport. He left at 2:30 on China Eastern Airlines, going East to JFK via Shanghai. We whatsapped when he got there and then he settled in for his 14 hour flight and I went to sleep.
Sylvia's Journal 
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