Bangkok- City of Temples

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Hi Everybody!
If you decide to visit Asia, I would highly recommend Bangkok. It has great food, interesting sights, nice people, and plenty of people who speak English. This morning, we took a city tour to the flower market, Chinatown, a gem factory/workshop, and visited many temples/wats. Each temple in Bangkok is unique with its own architecture and spiritual importance. We visited the temple with the Reclining Buddha and another with the Golden Buddha, a 10 foot tall statue that weighs 5 tons. I thought it was interesting that in 1957 this statue was completely covered in plaster and was being moved to a new location by a crane when it was dropped. It had previously been covered to protect it from invaders like the Burmese.
Throughout Bangkok, we noticed that many people were wearing yellow shirts. When we asked why, we found out that they are honoring their king for 60 years of service. Large pictures of the king and queen are displayed by the highways. They must have been taken 50 years ago because the king looks very young in them.
Tomorrow, we are going to spend the day on a tour of the River Kwai. The following afternoon, we will fly to Vientiane, Laos. We will keep Bangkok as our base, storing most luggage here. We will spend 2 nights in Laos and fly on to Siem Reap, Cambodia to visit Angkor Wat.
I have to say that Bangkok is my favorite city of all that we have visited. We are staying in a great shopping area at a hotel recommended by Neal and Sarah Ballard. We like the hotel and would love to come back to this city someday.
Take care,
Everette

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Comments

[Sandy Plummer]

Everette, I'm so glad that I'm on your blog list as I'll never see all of these places and you're doing such a great job of describing your experiences that I feel like I'm there. What a fun time for you and Walt. Don't hold back; buy, buy, buy all of the stuff you can get into a suitcase. This is your chance.

[Mary Kay]

Bangkok
We, too, were impressed with the respect that people have for their King and Queen. Glad you are enjoying one of our favorite cities, as well. Siem Reap will be quite an adventure. Enjoy!

[Everette]

Stuffing My Suitcase
Long ago, I threw away a bunch of clothes and transferred all of our clothes to one suitcase. I filled the 2nd suitcase and a duffle bag with things that I had bought. I am either going to have to buy another suitcase or stop purchasing merchandise. You cannot imagine how heavy our bags are. Lucky for me, they roll. I am still saying a prayer everyday for Bobby. I will be glad when he gets home from Iraq. I can't imagine how much you must worry about him.