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Today we took the Skytrain to the last stop by the river where we met up with Auntie Belinda. Then we took a boat to Wat Arun, across the river and a ways down. You can see the mix of old and new building from the murky brown river. Wat Arun has more Buddah's and you can climb the steep steps up to get an awesome view of the river and the city across from it. The golden gleam of the Grand Palace and Wat Pho can also be seen from the top. But let me tell you those steps are small and very steep! Thankfully they put railings up so you can hold on as you climb. But today I was wearing a skirt because the plan was to go to the Grand Palace and supposedly they won't let you in unless you are properly dressed and covered. So wearing a skirt while you are trying to climb those steep steps was a very slow process. There were more steps you could climb to get higher up the temple but they were a little too high and I would've had to hike my skirt up and maybe flash people below J so I didn't go up to the top step. After wandering around Wat Arun for a little bit, we took another boat to cross over the river and then headed off to Wat Pho.
Wat Pho is where the giant laying Buddah is located. That was one huge Buddah! It was long and his head was like the size of a very large truck. The feet were decorated with pearl inlays and very ornate. My camera battery was dying on me so my cousin used her camera to take pictures. Aunt Belinda found us a tuk-tuk to drive us to the Grand Palace but due to some event it wasn't open until 1pm and when were done at Wat Pho it was only 10:30am. So with the help of a passer by, Aunt Belinda arranged for the tuk-tuk driver to the Lucky Buddah, some place for lunch and then end up at the National Museum (which was near the Grand Palace). Now I know before I left for this trip I promised I wouldn't ride a tuk-tuk because of the negative things I read about them. Well we were only paying the guy 30 Baht for most of the afternoon, and we had Aunt Belinda who spoke fluent Thai.
Talk about a scary ride! I thought the taxis were frightening, but the tuk-tuk is another matter. I held on to the handle bar as he wove his way in and out of Bangkok traffic. The fumes of the bus exhaust was blowing right in your face. And since they drive like the British here, from where I was sitting (on the right side) I could see on coming traffic headed straight for me. The lucky Buddah was a bit of a disappointment, you couldn't even touch him for luck! Lunch was at a hole-in-the wall place where we ate fried chicken and rice.
Now came the fun part, instead of taking us directly to the National Palace our tuk-tuk driver took us to a jewelry place. Yes, we did the touristy thing where they showed us how they make the jewelry and various precious stones. Then our "guide" took us into the store where everything just glittered. Of course being a girl, I couldn't resist doing a little shopping and did just that. I got a moonstone earring, ring and necklace set along with a topaz ring and earring set. For my cousin I bought her a ring and earring set made out of moonstone, since that is our month stone. The price? I won't tell you other than if I bought it back home it would cost 3x what I paid for it here. So I didn't feel too bad that our tuk-tuk driver got a kick back from my purchase since we only paid him 30 Bhat for the three off us which is like $1 for a 4 hour ride around town.
The National museum was nice but uncomfortable since they didn't really have air conditioning inside most of the buildings. There were security cameras everywhere and museum people looking at you so I couldn't take plenty of pictures in there and plus my camera battery was really low!
Now the Grand Palace was just buzzing with tourist. When you got in, your eyes were just blazed with gold. It was everywhere! Wow!! We walked around saw the Emerald Buddah and various sculptures from Thai myths. Then we got lost trying to find the exit out of the courtyard. Oh yeah, you don't actually go inside the main Palace just to the courtyard area. As we walked around the Palace you can hear a cacophony of languages being spoken, cameras hung on necks and I saw plenty of fanny packs. After visiting this sight I was worn out and we headed back to BCGH to rest before heading to dinner.
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