Day 6 - Thailand (13 March 2020)

Today felt like how I imagined Bangkok would feel. We started out by driving over to the Grand Palace. Alex and I were both wearing long capris, and we weren’t sure if they would let us into the Palace grounds without needing to buy elephant pants to cover up our legs. But we made it in without needing to buy the pants!

Our guide said there are usually 10,000 Chinese tourists here a day, but we had very few people around us.  

The Grand Palace is beautiful!  They have mosaic tiles covering almost every building, and the buildings seem to sparkle in the sunlight. 

Everywhere you look, it’s like all the colors wash over you as you soak it all in. There was a decent amount of sun, but it was beautiful to see! 

It is an interesting experience to learn a little about cultural beliefs and norms as you are walking around experiencing the things there are to see. It makes me wonder how different life was when there were not tourists walking around. 

I was so impressed with the colors!  We also went inside the temple with the Jade Buddha, but they didn’t allow photos. However, everywhere else, I took pictures!

From the Palace, we walked over to the river and took a boat ride!  It was a good experience to see some of Bangkok from the river. 

They had a person who paddles up to our boat so we could buy some souvenirs if we wanted.  Mostly, we were there to just enjoy the ride. We did see the temple of the dawn right before we got off the boat. 

Getting off the boat was about a four foot climb to the dock. So, after getting pulled up and barely making it, we all managed to end up on the dock. 

We needed to walk a few blocks to our next destination, so we got to see a few bits about how the locals live on the way. 

We made our way over to the temple that has a 150 foot reclining Buddha. Evidently, it was covered in cement to protect it from raiding Myanmar, but then it was uncovered and fixed up. It is supposed to way more than 5 tons!

We then got to explore another part of the temple ground. There are a lot of interesting shaped structures, that Kris called Stupas.  They were placed all over the temple complex. It is amazing to me how intricate the designs and patterns are on all of the structures!

We walked into the inner part of the temple, and climbed up a flight of stairs to see a gold Buddha.  Then we slowly made our way out of the temple area towards our private van. 

We had lunch at a small restaurant that asked us to wash our hands before we entered, at an outdoor sink. The food was good, but a little spicy because... well, it’s Thailand. 

After returning to our hotel, we decided to take a dip in the pool. It’s seems like it’s the fastest way to cool us down after really hot days in the sun. When we asked Kris about the seasons in Thailand, he said they have hot and wet, and hot and dry. I believe it!

My mom wanted to get a chain necklace, so we took a taxi over to Chinatown. It was a few miles away, but it cost less than 100 baht. (Just over $3 for all four of us).  

Chinatown was interesting with its multiple stores that sold gold. A few of the stores didn’t want to help us, but she found what she wanted!  

We decided to take a taxi back to the hotel and saw some interesting things on our way. 

After arriving at the hotel, we made the decision to go back to the same Italian restaurant for dinner. It was just as delicious as last night!

A few things that I have learned is that King Rama V was a great diplomat. He gave up half of his kingdom to the French and British to not be conquered. He was the son of King Rama IV who was the king from the King and I. 

There are also 38,020 temples in all of Thailand. That is impressive!  It has been interesting learning about Thailand. It seems very different than the area where I was in Cambodia. I have enjoyed learning about the City of Mangos!  Tomorrow we are off to Phuket for some beach time!