Bangkok temples
Trip Start
Sep 23, 2008
1
17
40
Trip End
Oct 31, 2008
Bangkok,
Thailand
Thursday, October 9, 2008
A morning tour of Bangkok involves the kind of tour party we like - us, the guide and a driver - and a slight change of plan (one of the temples we were supposed to visit was in an area of town that was still recovering from last night - the locals seem to have had a riotous time).
So instead we went for a walk around some of the markets - a vast array of first flowers and then various "interesting" styles of fish. This is all interspersed with places selling images of Buddha, candles and incense sticks - could Buddhism be popular here?
Then it was off to Wat Pho temple, best known for its statue of Buddha lying down. Wandering in and out of the various buildings in the temple complex involved regular removal of footwear - perhaps not the best of ideas as I've been wearing my boots for 3 weeks solid.
Then it was off to Wat Suthat, another temple complex. This one is famous for its 700 year old statue of Buddha.
To continue a theme started in China our final stop was a factory making and selling jewellery. Sarah, being attracted to shiny things and weak of will, did cave in and buy something. I just went and admired the traditional costumes some of the women were wearing.
After lunch we sat by the pool for a while and then explored the shopping centre and some of the streets around our hotel.
The evening is a real tourist thing - featuring traditional Thai dance and a traditional Thai food banquet.
As I write this, Sarah is sitting on the king size bed listening to Harry Potter on her iPod with all our Thai currency spread all around her in nice neat piles of 1,000 Baht.
