Our tour guide Sam took us to the Grand Palace. The detail in each structure was breathtaking. All were very unique, too. The first of the three structures was Phra Sirafana Chedi, made entirely of gold mosaic. The second structure was Phra Mondop, and in my opinion, the most beautiful one. There were figures of demons and human faces guarding all four doors. The structure itself was made of many things, including gems, tiny little mirrors, and volcanic stone. The third structure was Phra Ubosoth, or the chapel of the Emerald Buddha. Pictures weren't allowed there, but thye dress up the little buddha differently for the winter, rain, and summer. Yep, all 3 seasons.
Wat Pho, The Reclining Buddha, is world-renown, and I could see why. The buddha was ginormous, and covered entirely in gold leaf.
Wat Arun is another well-renown structure. William and I were able to climb the steep stairs and walk up as far as we were allowed.
Sam then took us out to lunch. The food was heavenly, but the coconut-butterfly pea ice cream was the best. The communication was a little off on that, mostly because I thought I'd heard them say "butter-fly pea". Well, it turns out the butterfly pea is a purplish-blue flower.
After a little afternoon break, we had dinner on the river with a view of the Wat Arun, which we had visited earlier that day. The food was great, but the view was the best, especially because we got to see the sun setting over the Wat Arun. It was beathtaking.
When in Bangkok... It was still early enough and since the market stays open late, we decided to do some shopping. We got some knock-off belts for the kids, a dress for me, and some cool lights. Everything was super cheap. And then William convinced me to try the durian. I'd never even heard of durian before, but I could smell it before we even got close. My verdict: it tasted as gross as it smelled. No wonder certain businesses don't allow the fruit in their premises. To get back to the hotel, we took an overpriced Tuk-tuk. It was fun, for the experience.
Things I learned:
- 95% of the population is Buddhist. The next largest religion is Muslim.
- People pray to Buddha, who was a living person, not a God or anything like that. They basically worship him.
- They believe in cremation and reincarnation. reincarnation is based upon how a person lived their life.
- There are 4 categories of people: good people who do good things, good people who do bad things, bad people who do good things, and bad people who do bad things.
- The weather in Thailand, and most specifically Bangkok is hot, hotter, and hottest.
- It doesn't rain often and the country is suffering from the lack of water. But it is very humid there, in fact I felt it as soon as I stepped off the plane.
- They drive on the left side of the road, something the English established.
Day 2:
Sam took us a little out of the city to a place called Ayutthaya. It took me a while to understand what Sam was saying because it sounded like he was saying UTI. We visited the Summer Palace there, which sits on 46 acres. It was beautiful with all its green grass, trees, flowers, and koi.
We then went to Wat Maha That, which are ancient ruins in Bang Pa-in. It was interesting to see all the Buddha heads that had been cut off. The other structures had also all been destroyed or were sinking into the ground.
We also saw this really big Buddha in the temple next to the ruins.
The market was just minutes away, so we walked over to check it out for a little while. Sam gave us a taste of Roti saimai, which I can only describe as a green sweet crepe filled with cotton candy. That's not really what it was, but it was soooo yummy. And very sweet.
We then took a cruise boat on the River of Kings. We had a lunch buffet on the boat. Everything was delicious, but the Pad Thai has always been one of my favorite Thai foods.
We had a food tour scheduled that evening, but we couldn't leave Bangkok without seeing a Muay Thai fight, so we got some last minute, FRONT ROW, tickets. Little did we know that the guys fighting would be BOYS. Some of these boys looked like they were barely 14. As the fights went on, the boys did seem to get older. But still, these boys put up a fight. And they kept a straight face through the stomach punches and leg kicks. I was impressed. They were so calm and collected the entire time. There were no knock-outs and no bloody faces, but these guys took some mean hits, especially knees to the abdomen and ribs.
It was really neat to see the culture incorporated into the fights. Like all the fighters came in wearing a cape, flowers around their neck, and a headband-looking thing. Then they knelt to each corner of the stadium and did a little dance in the center.
I also thought it was interesting that no one threw punches in the last 15 seconds of the fight. In the US that's wen they give it their all, their last shot, in order to say they fought until the very end. But in Thailand, they stop near the end, maybe out of respect for their opponent.
- The flag is red, white, and blue. Red represents nationality, white represents Buddha, and blue represents loyalty.
- The (pregnant) queen of King Rama IV died at 34, alongside her child, in a boating incident. My understanding was that her guards were unable to assist her because they couldn't physically touch a woman (even to save her).
- Ying and yang. There's a little bit of bad in good people and a little bit of good in bad people.
- In 2011, there was a flood caused by too much rain in Ayatthaya. People had to get around by boat.
- There are 16 steps, or levels, in heaven.
- The Lotus flower is used a lot in ceremonies and is considered to bring luck.
- We saw a lot of dogs walking around, without a leash or a person. I thought they were stray dogs, but Sam said they usually belong to people. These dogs just kind of walk around then come home for food, like cats do in America.
- The Thai have 5 rules to obey, including: don't kill, don't steal, and don't lie. The monks have 227 rules. That's a lot more!
