Our First Sunday Trip

Hello Again!
Yesterday Danielle and I took a trip to some of the temples and palaces in central Bangkok. This stuff is really impressive, and although we felt touristy we took a lot of pictures. A local guy who runs a eatery/cafe/food-stall three blocks from the Muay Thai Institute was our guide. His name is ChaiPoom, and he rocks.

So without further ado here are the pretty pictures.

Wat Arun, Temple of the Dawn. This is the King's temple and where his ashes will be stored. A very impressive temple, it's called Temple of the Dawn because when the sun rises it sparkles off of all the china, gold, and jewels.

We took a ferry across the Chao Phraya river this is the view of Wat Arun from there.


Up the first flight of stairs.


The stairs up to the top after climbing the first set. The signs say "don't even think about it".


The Demons gaurding Wat Arun, here you can see the inlaid jewels and china.


A figure in the wall, there are different ones everywhere.

There are a lot of other cool things and places around this temple but there is also a no camera rule in those areas, so we don't have pictures of them.

Up next is the Reclining Bhudda of Wat Pho. This thing is HUGE, I don't think that the pictures convey that really well. It's just really big and impressive. I think the Bhudda itself is about 150 feet long.

The Head.


Danielle for size comparison.


The Feet.


Up Close of the Feet. Here you can see the mother of pearl decorations.


The Grand Palace and Emerald Bhudda were next. The Grand Palace has this huge Golden Chedi that's really cool. Also this place has an extremely strict zone of camera use, so we can show you only the outside of these places. If you ever get a chance to see the Emerald Bhudda here, do so.

The Golden Chedi


The two of us in front of the Golden Chedi.


These were explained to me to be Protectors, like bodygaurds, as all demons in holy places are here. There is a huge red one in the airport as well. They are called Khon.


The outside of the royal library.


More Khons.


Our guide ChaiPoom and us outside the royal pantheon.


After all that we decided to head back to the camp. It was blazing hot. Our sunscreen was wearing out (we are both burnt a bit), and our legs were tired. All this stuff and more is in central Bangkok. It would take a few weeks of constant tourist action to see everything in the area.

Special thanks to ChaiPoom for being our guide.


Until next time.


P.S. be sure to keep checking Danielle's blog as well as mine, there is just too much for us to write about at one time. After all of this ChaiPoom invited us to his place for a traditional Thai dinner which was awesome.