Bangkok, cont... Day Three with the gals...
On the river, we saw a lot of different types of structures, some grand and some dilapidated shacks. This is China town from the boat and one of the temples we did not get to see.
When we stepped off the boat, we didn't really have a clue where to go. I wasn't up for being the human GPS at the moment so we wondered to the bathroom, which is always a safe stop. Everywhere in Thailand, you have to pay to use the toilet.. and if you can find a toilet that has toilet paper, score! It's a hot commodity in this country!
Sonia and Alison had an unspoken vow of having a coconut a day while in Thailand. This lady took that knife to the coconut and it didn't stand a chance. It was a fast opening...
Lost in a market that smelled heavily of fish and fruit, I found this... now, you may laugh because you think it's quite funny looking; but I can speak from experience... this is an accurate interpretation of a Thai massage (more on that in the island posts!)
Whilst on the streets trying to figure out which way to go, a local Thai man started up a conversation with me. I greeted him with the standard Thai, "saw-wah-de-kah," which basically means hello. He worked across the street at the temple we were looking at and he told us about the upcoming festival around the country and helped us figure out where to site see for the day. During the conversation, he told me to find a tuk-tuk driver and tell him where we wanted to go, for 40 baht, in Thai. He then asked me if I spoke Thai (in which I politely laughed and said no, cause really?) He hailed down a driver and off we went!
Our first stop was the Smiling Buddha. Our driver was well excited about teaching us about his culture. He couldn't stop smiling as he talked about the city and especially when we came to the temple.
While there, he was teaching me about the different Buddha's... did you know there was one for every day? Yeah, shouldn't be hard to believe. He shared with us a local custom when you come to the Smiling Buddha. Basically, you pay 10 baht for a small jar of oil. You pour the oil into the Buddah that the day of your birthday falls upon that year (lucky for me, mine was the next week... otherwise, I would not have know my birthday fell on a Thursday!)
After you pour the oil, you walk over to the bell, and with your right hand, you gong the bell three times... once on the right, once on the left, and again on the right. Then you walk over to the other bell to the right and do the same thing, in reverse order.
After we all finished our birthday Buddah custom, we took our shoes off and headed inside the temple to see the Smiling Buddah. Inside, we met another friendly Thai man. We spoke to him for a good 20 minutes (poor tuk-tuk driver waiting outside in the blistering 38 degree weather - about 100 degrees F!) He owned a rubber tree farm and a friend told him to come to this Buddha for a successful business year. His son was also getting married in a few weeks (hope it went well!) After talking some more, he wanted to teach us how to ask Buddha for something. Of course, I felt a little conflicted with the whole not worshiping other idols thing and then not wanting to disrespect the Buddhist culture by praying to God in a temple. So I just said a few words wishing the man a successful business year and for his son to have a lovely wedding. We said our goodbyes after finishing up and were off again...
Wat Pho... beautiful. It was the only other temple Kathy and I went inside. Although, I've heard that if you've been in one, you've seen 'em all. And I believe that!
We walked in the entrance and paid a 100 baht (about $3) to see the temple of the reclining Buddha...
When you get your ticket scanned, the first place you see to the left has this inside. If you actually hit it (we did it once and very soft,) you will hear the low gong sound. It's pretty cool.
The first temple we visited inside Wat Pho was the Reclining Buddha. Inside there were quite a few people, so getting pictures was a bit tricky. Lucky for me, everyone was snapping away at the gigantic Buddha and marveling at it's size and didn't see the 4 monks meditating.
When we left the Reclining Buddha, it was hotter than Hades outside. Pretty sure it was pushing 105 or so... but that's what ya get when you travel in the hottest month of the year in Thailand.
It was after one by now and I was hungry, but we pressed on through the grounds to see the other temples in hopes that we would finish in time to head across the street to see The Grand Palace.
Walking around Wat Pho was quite relaxing... although I will say that it's all the same going in and out of each temple. They all had different Buddha's in them though. Kathy and I started playing around while waiting for Sonia, and I made a new friend. He's quite small, but very happy! I even attempted to be like Buddha... I wouldn't recommend doing that on the smallest step know to man. Kathy was "yelling" at me to fix my feet and snapped a picture of my scared Buddha. It was quite funny in the moment.
In the end, we didn't get to see all of Wat Pho as it was nearing 3:00 and I hadn't eaten lunch yet. Kathy was very understanding (Sonia got lost in the midst of all the Buddhas and we ended up leaving without her). We headed back to the hotel after waiting for a good 45 minutes for the ferry - which was extremely packed! We ate dinner and said goodbye to Bangkok for the time being.
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| Sonia and I |
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| Kathy and I |
When we stepped off the boat, we didn't really have a clue where to go. I wasn't up for being the human GPS at the moment so we wondered to the bathroom, which is always a safe stop. Everywhere in Thailand, you have to pay to use the toilet.. and if you can find a toilet that has toilet paper, score! It's a hot commodity in this country!
Sonia and Alison had an unspoken vow of having a coconut a day while in Thailand. This lady took that knife to the coconut and it didn't stand a chance. It was a fast opening...
Lost in a market that smelled heavily of fish and fruit, I found this... now, you may laugh because you think it's quite funny looking; but I can speak from experience... this is an accurate interpretation of a Thai massage (more on that in the island posts!)
Whilst on the streets trying to figure out which way to go, a local Thai man started up a conversation with me. I greeted him with the standard Thai, "saw-wah-de-kah," which basically means hello. He worked across the street at the temple we were looking at and he told us about the upcoming festival around the country and helped us figure out where to site see for the day. During the conversation, he told me to find a tuk-tuk driver and tell him where we wanted to go, for 40 baht, in Thai. He then asked me if I spoke Thai (in which I politely laughed and said no, cause really?) He hailed down a driver and off we went!
Our first stop was the Smiling Buddha. Our driver was well excited about teaching us about his culture. He couldn't stop smiling as he talked about the city and especially when we came to the temple.
While there, he was teaching me about the different Buddha's... did you know there was one for every day? Yeah, shouldn't be hard to believe. He shared with us a local custom when you come to the Smiling Buddha. Basically, you pay 10 baht for a small jar of oil. You pour the oil into the Buddah that the day of your birthday falls upon that year (lucky for me, mine was the next week... otherwise, I would not have know my birthday fell on a Thursday!)
After you pour the oil, you walk over to the bell, and with your right hand, you gong the bell three times... once on the right, once on the left, and again on the right. Then you walk over to the other bell to the right and do the same thing, in reverse order.
After we all finished our birthday Buddah custom, we took our shoes off and headed inside the temple to see the Smiling Buddah. Inside, we met another friendly Thai man. We spoke to him for a good 20 minutes (poor tuk-tuk driver waiting outside in the blistering 38 degree weather - about 100 degrees F!) He owned a rubber tree farm and a friend told him to come to this Buddha for a successful business year. His son was also getting married in a few weeks (hope it went well!) After talking some more, he wanted to teach us how to ask Buddha for something. Of course, I felt a little conflicted with the whole not worshiping other idols thing and then not wanting to disrespect the Buddhist culture by praying to God in a temple. So I just said a few words wishing the man a successful business year and for his son to have a lovely wedding. We said our goodbyes after finishing up and were off again...
Wat Pho... beautiful. It was the only other temple Kathy and I went inside. Although, I've heard that if you've been in one, you've seen 'em all. And I believe that!
We walked in the entrance and paid a 100 baht (about $3) to see the temple of the reclining Buddha...
When you get your ticket scanned, the first place you see to the left has this inside. If you actually hit it (we did it once and very soft,) you will hear the low gong sound. It's pretty cool.
The first temple we visited inside Wat Pho was the Reclining Buddha. Inside there were quite a few people, so getting pictures was a bit tricky. Lucky for me, everyone was snapping away at the gigantic Buddha and marveling at it's size and didn't see the 4 monks meditating.
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| Was a little grossed out when I saw this... biggest feet ever! Yuck! |
It was after one by now and I was hungry, but we pressed on through the grounds to see the other temples in hopes that we would finish in time to head across the street to see The Grand Palace.
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| Beautiful landscaping and architecture |
In the end, we didn't get to see all of Wat Pho as it was nearing 3:00 and I hadn't eaten lunch yet. Kathy was very understanding (Sonia got lost in the midst of all the Buddhas and we ended up leaving without her). We headed back to the hotel after waiting for a good 45 minutes for the ferry - which was extremely packed! We ate dinner and said goodbye to Bangkok for the time being.
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