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Bangkok Traffic
Taken near the National Stadium on the Skywalk. Well, the first five days in Bangkok was spent in a hotel room with the flu. The whole time I was wondering if I had something more serious. As soon as we landed in Singapore, we were warned about the possibility of contracting some new strain of flu called J1 something or other. So, of course, that was in the back of my head and then the other great illnesses found in the back of my travel guide including malaria. Thank goodness, I am feeling much better and have had a chance to get out of the hotel the last couple of days. Unfortunately, I was never planning on staying in Bangkok for so long.
The transit system in Bangkok is very good and we used the Sky Train and the Ferry for all of our trips out and about. The first day of semi-good health, we went to the Ko Ratanakosin area of Bangkok to visit Wat Phra Kaew and the Grand Palace. The ticket (500B) includes admission to both attractions. Wat Phra Kaew has strict dress guidelines and I thought we had dressed appropriately, but Macayla had leggings on which is frowned upon since they are tight against
Wat Phra Kaew
A huge complex of various temples. the legs so we had to rent a skirt for her the day. The people running the show think of everything. This Wat is also know as the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. The Emerald Buddha is quite small but apparently revered by Buddhists. They even change the way it is dressed to go along with each season. Inside the main chapel where the Emerald Buddha is located, we were unable to take pictures. Macayla was able to grab a quick shot with her phone while no one was looking but it was not a great photo. I think the best part about this Wat is how it is covered in beautifully bright glass tiles. We then made out way to the Grand Palace which is only used for royal ceremonies since the royal family now lives in a different palace.
The next day (Thursday), we went to the same area to visit the famous Khao San Road. I was mainly looking for fried insects but only came across some fried scorpions. I bought the smallest one and ate it. It really does not taste like much and I think that it tasted more like over-fried grease than anything
else. I think that they had been cooked-up hours before I ate mine. Shopping on this famous road is good, however, I am sure we could have found the same things on other markets in the area. Macayla was focused on which women were actually girls and which were guys.
Our last day in Bangkok, we went back to see two more famous Wats in the area, Wat Pho and Wat Arun. Wat Pho is the oldest and largest temple in Bangkok (16th century) and has the largest reclining Buddha. We were unprepared with how massive this Buddha was and quite impressed. Wat Arun is magnificent in that it is covered in porcelain tiles with spires protruding skyward and a main temple of steep stairs that has amazing views of the river and city. Macayla was too fearful to climb the stairs so I did the journey up alone. The view is wonderful and worth the effort to get up to the top.
Tomorrow we head to Cambodia.
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Suzanne
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Those steps look so steep. Good on ya for going up. Sorry you were so ill, so glad you are better. Scorpion (eewwhh) love keeping up with you girls. Your both amazing to me. Lots if love