In Bangkok!

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Nate and I arrived in Bangkok 2 nights ago and have been loving it. Hong Kong was too hot and too crowded. I was worried the same might be true for Bangkok. Thank God it's not. It's still pretty hot here, but not as humid. As for the atmosphere, we're staying at the Rambuttri Village Inn in the Khao San Road area, which is basically where all the backpackers gravitate. It's perfect. Our hotel is a huge complex with 2 rooftop pools and a zillion rooms, but ours is miraculously quiet given the party zone we're in. For $25 bucks a night we've got a tv, air conditioner, ensuite with hot shower, and a very clean room with a comfy bed. We could be staying somewhere a little worse for a lot less, but we figured, Why bother? as we're still getting used to the climate.

Today we visited the Grand Palace, including the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, and Wat Pho, home of the Reclining Buddha. The Grand Palace was just that - incredibly grand. Everything was gold and glittering and fabulous - definitely something I would consider as a model for when I someday build my own Grand Palace. The Temple of the Emerald Buddha was very cool. It had a very Sistine-Chapel-feel to it; it was so splendid and serene. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take any photos from inside, but I got a few blurry ones from outside and then bought some postcards.

Wat Pho is home to the Reclining Buddha, which the position of the final stage of Nirvana. It's 46m long and 15m tall - it's huge! It's also done entirely in gold leaf, aside from the feet, which are mother of pearl and depict over 100 different scenes. It's very cool.

Anyway, that's it for now. We'll probably spend 2 more nights in Bangkok while we try to figure out where to go next. When we went to book our tickets to Cambodia today the travel agent told us that it would actually be cheaper to fly to Hanoi and then go down the coast to Ho Chi Minh City, then go into Cambodia from there and up to Laos - so we've got some decisions to make. Right now we're going to head into Soi Rambuttri (the area around our hotel) and check out what the evening has to offer. Bye for now!

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Photos

At the Grand Palace - a former king?
There were two massive gold spires surrounded by these guys - I think they were supposed to represent former kings!

Me outside the Grand Palace
It was so hot but I had to wear long pants and long sleeves to go in the temples! I almost melted!

At Wat Pho with the Reclining Buddha
HUGE! 46m long and 15m tall!

Feet on Reclining Buddha
All the detail on the feet is done in mother of pearl. It's really amazing.

Temple of the Emerald Buddha
A poor shot from outside (there were no photographs allowed), but you kind of get the idea.

Reclining Buddha
All gold leaf! It's crazy!

Nate with Dragons
This is outside the Wat near our hotel. I thought the dragons were sweet!

Nate at Khao San Road
A major street with tons of market stalls, our hotel is about a block from here.

Comments

[Jessie L]

Tell that Nate boy he needs to get some sun. He's blinding me in the photos!

[Rachel]

You had to wear long sleeves to get in? That REALLY sucks. The palace looks amazing though and I'm glad you're having an AMAZING time!

[starcar44]

long sleeves
yeah, i saw one girl get asked to leave a temple because she was wearing a sleeveless shirt. the guidebooks say that even if it doesn't say to wear long sleeves at the temples, and even if no one says anything, the locals find it offensive if you're scatily clad. so i've been doing my best, but most of the time i just look disgusting i'm so sweaty.