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Published: October 24th 2013
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Sa wa dee ka!
We are finally here in Thailand. Our first destination was Bangkok. We stayed in a hotel for two nights near a place called Sukhumwit Road. As I have been to Bangkok before, we only visited a couple of places as Stuart wanted to see some of the sites.
We asked a tuk tuk driver to take us to the Grand Palace and he said it would be easier if we took a boat down the Chao Praya river so we said ok. Little did we know he was taking us to a private boat hire company that were trying to charge us 2000baht! I had been to Bangkok before and I said to Stuart no way, I knew we could get it for cheaper! An older couple from the Netherlands were also trying to be conned by them so we went a found a public boat to get up the river. This only cost us 200baht...a lot cheaper!!
First of all, we visited the beautifully decorated Grand Palace. I knew before I left the hotel I must wear long trousers and cover my shoulders. When I got there, the man at the entrance pulled
me back and said I must hire a shirt as my sleeves were not long enough. I wasn't very happy about this but I thought I must or we won't be allowed to go in. I was given a bright pink flowery shirt (big enough for a man) so I tied it at my waist so I didn't look like a sack of potatoes!
Surrounding the inside walls of the grand palace, there are pictures all the way round that tell the story of the Thai culture and religion. Inside the grand palace, there is also an temple called Wat Phra Kaew, which means temple for the Emerald Buddha. The Emerald Buddha is held high above a platform and is decorated below with ornaments and flowers. People go there to pay respect to the Emerald Buddha. The Emerald Buddha is said to have been carved in India and is oldest Buddha statue in Thailand. It is a symbol of Thailand's sovereignty.
When we left the Grand Palace, we then went in search for the Reclining Buddha. We forgot to bring our map so we wandered the streets to find a map and finally came across a man that
told us it was right next to us! He told us it wasn't open and tried to get us to visit other places but we knew he must have been lying so that he could get us to pay money for him to take us around, so we said thanks, but no thanks!!
We paid (100baht which is about £2) to go inside a place called Wat Pho where we knew the Reclining Buddha could be found. A man came up to us saying that he could take us around the temple for 300Baht but we said no and carried on looking around. We were then approached by 4 teenagers from a local high school asking if we could help them with their homework. They said they had been asked by their teacher to find people that spoke English and practise their English with them. They said to us that they did not want payment but they would like to take us around Wat Pho so that they could practise speaking English. We were sceptical at first, as we had so many try to approach us, but we are really glad we let them as they were telling us
some interesting facts about Wat Pho. They were 16 years old and said they had been learning English for 10 years. We could understand most of what they were saying and helped where we could.
They told us about the temple guards, that are colourful statues with strange faces, that guard the doors. We also saw statues in different meditation positions, they are meant to bring relaxation and help with people's breathing just by looking at them! Inside Wat Pho there is lots of pointy buildings that are called Stupas. They commemorate the first 3 Chakri Kings.
They then took us to the Reclining Buddha, which,according to legend, has the bones of the first king inside. It is a massive (46metres long), golden statue, laying on his side. It is laying on its side to represent the passing of the Buddha into Nivana. Round the side of the Recling Buddha there are 108 bowls. You can buy a cup of coins for 20Baht and you place each coin inside each bowl. If you put a coin in each bowl you can make a wish and it is supposed to come true! I made sure I made a wish
😊
We then said goodbye to the lovely Thai teenagers and took a trek home. We walked the streets of Thailand, through the bustling streets filled with market stalls. We passed the Chinese Market that sold strange looking meats all soaked in a large tub of water. It did not look very appetizing!! We then came across the metro station and took a train ride back to our hotel.
We got to Chiang Mai today and it is a lot more quieter than the madness of Bangkok. The taxi drivers and tuk tuks seem to drive a lot more slowly, which is nice for me. We are staying in a hostel(which smells a little) but the person at the front desk called Big is very friendly, so we are trying to ignore the mouldy smell haha. We have booked on a cooking course tomorrow and a two-day elephant trek leaving Saturday. I will tell you more when we have been. Very excited!!
Hope you are all well.
Sa Wa de ka ( this is also goodbye in Thai) xxxx
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