MoreBangkok
We went to the Grand Palace today. Most of the temples are either free to all or at least free to locals - tourists still have to pay - because of - you guessed it - king's birthday. The Grand Palace houses a temple of the Emerald Buddha. It is not that big but sits atop a pyramid of gold (gold leaf - not the real thing) inlaid with bits of colored glass that looks like precious stones. No pictures allowedhttp://www.bangkoksite.com/temples/EmeraldBuddha.htm to check it out. The grounds were spectacular and we can understand why it is one of the most visited tourist places. We then checked out the reclining Buddha. http://www.sacred-destinations.com/thailand/bangkok-wat-pho I think as far as peace and tranquility, I prefer the second Wat (temple) It was less crowded, more trees therefore cooler (we loved it when it went down to 32C this evening - you poor freezing buggers....) and generally more peaceful.
However, despite the historical and amazing attractions of the day, we kind of got lost and had to wander through some non-tourist areas. We were not really 'lost', because we could always orientate ourselves by the pinnacle over the bridge which is close to our hostel and is visible over the trees and most buildings. But it was interesting to go through the local district. The food is different, the vendors have different stuff, the people interact different. We came across a bus stop that was crowded with people waiting for buses, but there were vendors selling everything from juice, to cell phones, to old shoes. A couple older gents were amusing themselves by playing checkers on the sidewalk. They made X's to depict the boxes and were using bottle caps as checkers. One guy's was up and the other guy's were down. They collected quite a little crowd cheering their favorite to victory.
Anyway, that is it for now. Day after tomorrow we head up to Sukothai for a day or two, then on to Chaing Mai - where we are looking forward to cooking classes, massage classes, possibly a jungle trek on elephant, and some general R&R. We can't wait for cooking classes... yummy yummy in our tummies.....:)
I tried to upload some pictures, but it didn;t work....??? not sure why. maybe next time.
