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Published: March 21st 2010
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It's my last day in SE Asia. I'm already sad just thinking about it. It's warm, not humid, the food is vegetarian, and the people understand me when I talk. Can I stay just a little longer?
I got up for breakfast while Julie slept in and relaxed. I sat next to an older Australian couple who, when they'd booked their whole trip, had been promised 5 star hotels. Yet they're sitting here next to me. We were contemplating where the stars fell off. Luckily, they had a really good attitude about it and decided that since it was only for 2 nights they could deal with it. This place will make for excellent storytelling. I've had bathrooms with more maneuvering room than our bedroom. And my desk in Shenzhen is bigger than our bathroom. But at least this one has a sink. The Australians told me that their AC (which we don't have) leaks into the room next door. Well, the price was right.
I tried to hire a tuk-tuk to go to Wat Pho since I wasn't sure exactly where it is. There are many buildings by the palace and I wasn't in the mood to navigate
it. The desk clerk at my hostel said it should cost me about 30 baht, which is also what Julie had guessed. Every driver wanted 100! Or, if they were feeling generous, 50 with an extra stop. "Good for you, good for me!" they would yell. Let me tell you what you can do with that extra stop, buster...
I didn't have my map because it was packed in the locked room where Julie was sleeping. Remember, I was supposed to take a tuk-tuk and not navigate. Luckily, I ran into two lovely Finnish women who did have a map and were also trying to go to the Wat. We were still a bit confused and they were even less trusting than I. We pretty much all felt like anyone we asked would tell us something different and none of it would be helpful. Then I saw a traffic policeman. We knew we could ask him. He even bothered to walk with us a bit and point us in the right direction. We made it there with no further trouble.
Wat Pho is home to the largest reclining Buddha in Thailand at 46 meters long and 15 meters
high. It's also been here since the 16th century. The buildings were amazing and glorious--it almost felt like a palace! It made me wish I had more time to visit more temples. All the Buddhas within sparkled in the slivers of sunlight.
When I finally reached the high point (pun intended) the reclining Buddha was more impressive than I'd ever imagined. I've seen it in movies and books, but in real life it was SO much bigger! Everyone who gathered to ooh and ahh was dwarfed by it. He was so large I couldn't fit him all into one photo or even two! And you know I tried!
I wandered around a bit before heading back. I had one last shrimp pad Thai, one last coconut shake, one last bottle of the pomegranate green tea. With a full belly and happy heart, we left for home.
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