Thailand Part I: Sawati Kop

Living it up in The Land of Smiles.

This weekend I took a weekend adventure to Bangkok. Flights are about 3 hours and US$220, so I have been planning on taking a weekend jaunt for a couple weeks. It happened that Kinney was moving on to Thailand after a stop in Hong Kong, so I figured this weekend was as good as any. I met up with him there. Leaving after work on Friday and accounting for the usual immigration rigmarole, I didn't get into Bangkok til late in the evening. Even as I rode to the hotel in a cab around 2am, the streets were busy, and the street food was still cooking. In the morning, it was up early and off to explore the Buddhist temples of Bangkok. But first, we grabbed something to eat. All throughout the city, people cook food on the streets. Even the restaurants are mosty open with tables spilling out into the streets. At first I thought this was an urban phenomenon, but later I found that even outside of the city, there was a wide selection of street food.
Ornate temples are scattered throughout the city, but there are a few that hold speacial significance, because of their architecture, religious significance and age. We planned a route that would allow us to hit the major temples in the morning. While en route, I was amazed by the pictures and statues of the King and Queen. They were ubiquitous.
I'm glad Kinney had read up a little before going because in the morning everyone was trying to con us. We went to take a tuk-tuk, and he told us he would take us to a tailor and a boat ride. After telling him we just wanted to go to the temple, he continued to press, so we just got in a cab. The driver's try to steer tourist to certain stores because they recieve a commision from the stores. When we arrived at the temple, a man at one of the gates told us the temple was closed. Kinney told him it wasn't. I thought this was a strange response, but I learned that people will tell you the temples are closed so they can take you to other parts of the city and try to make you buy stuff. By this point I was getting pretty annoyed. However, now a bit more street savy, I was on my guard. We spent the morning at the grand palace, and what pho. The grand palace is the former residence of the king of Siam, and also the current resting place of the Emerald Buddha. At about 2 feet tall, and made fo Jade, the "emerald buddha" is suprisingly unimpressive. What is impressive is the buildings that were built to house it. The Emerald buddha has been a symbol of luck for centuries. It's origins are shrouded in myth but, it has been fought over and stolen by different countries in SE Asia for hundreds of years. The Buddha wears robes that are changed a couple times a year by the King himself. The coolest part about the grounds, and the temples of Thailand in general, is that they feature temples in many different architectural styles including Chinese, Sri Lankan, Cambodian, and Thai (there is even an Italian renaissance style buiding (this one not a temple). The intricacy of the buildings is amazing.
After touring the grounds, we headed to another temple that houses a giant reclining buddha. He is enourmous. At least 1,000 times larger than the Emerald buddha. He barely fits in his temple.



















Street Food. From Fish to Fruit and everything in between. The Street food is delicious.

















Trust them as far as I can throw them