Bangkok, Thailand

The first thing on the itinerary was a tour on the Chao Phraya river which runs through Bangkok. When we got to the dock, most of the dock was under water. Apparently it had been raining quite a bit north of Bangkok with all of that rain water raising the level of the river and putting some of the river bank underwater. The water was a meter higher than normal. We saw more evidence of this on our tour with the houses right on the water being partially underwater. It didn't seem like the people minded and all the kids were having fun fishing, swimming and playing in the water. So we got on this really skinny boat with Pepsi splash guards. It was only two people. The water looked pretty rough, but surprisingly the ride wasn't bad at all. The boat took us to a place near a temple where we could feed catfish. There is this rule that you cannot catch fish near a temple, and these fish knew it. There were a ton of them and you could buy bread to feed them. It was a normal stop because several boats were there and more came and stopped as we left. It was kind of crazy, but sort of fun. During our cruise we were approached by merchants in small boats who offered Pepsi, beer and all kinds of souvenirs. We passed the Grand Palace (see below) on our cruise. It looked pretty cool.After the cruise we went back to Wat Arun (or Temple of the Dawn) which we had passed on the cruise. It was one of the few temples that I thought looked better from afar than close up. It was decorated with a bunch of broken ceramic plates and while that made it colorful, it didn't look very polished up close. It was still pretty neat to see and climb up. I had my first experience with Thai public bathrooms and just like Korea, Thailand also has the "squat toilets." Once you get used to this though, it isn't too bad. They too also have a basket next to the "toilet" to put all toilet paper because if you flush it down the toilet it clogs the plumbing. Anyway, we walked around and also saw the working temple part of the complex which was guarded by 2 demons. The next place we had to go was across the river, so we had to get to a boat to take us across...of course the planks leading to the boat were submerged under water and our feet got wet. It was worse on the other side, but what choice did we have? We visited Wat Po (Temple of the Reclining Buddha), the oldest and largest Buddhist temple in Bangkok. The Reclining Buddha (second largest in Thailand) was a sight to see. It was pretty cool. On the backside of the Buddha there were several bowls in a straight line along the wall. For 20 Baht (or whatever you wanted to donate) you could get coins and then put one coin in each bowl. If you were able to put one coin in each bowl and do it perfectly at the end of the line you would get your wish. This was done in the first season of the Amazing Race, so even though I didn't really believe I would get my wish, I did it anyway. I wasn't perfect though, and ran out of coins before I got to the end. Just outside the building with the Buddha, there were several stupas (tall spires where you bury the ashes of people) and the main worship center of this temple. We were told by our guide to wear black or white because we were going to walk by the recently Thai Princess's crematorium, but we didn't have either one. The process and celebration had started on the 15th and would run until the 19th. Because of this, the Grand Palace, the one place I really wanted to see in Bangkok, was closed the whole time we were in Bangkok. Instead, our guide walked us past the Grand Palace to the area where the crematorium was built. It was huge and consisted of several buildings. This was built especially for the Princess and was to be taken down after all of the ceremonies had finished. Pretty much everyone was wearing black in mourning for their Princess. You could really tell that the people of Thailand really loved and respected her. I was disappointed we couldn't see the Grand Palace, but at least we got to have the experience of grieving with the people and seeing the crematorium. We took a short boat ride and short car ride to the tallest hotel in Bangkok. We had a buffet lunch here and then went to the observatory deck which rotated around so we could see all of Bangkok. Wow, what a huge city.
We were then taken to a gem place which made me really uncomfortable. The first part of the "tour" was seeing how gems were cut and put into jewelery, but pretty much it was a huge showroom for jewelery. The staff would follow you around (very closely) and I hate that. I'm more likely not to buy something if I'm being closely monitored, but it didn't really matter in this case because I wasn't interested. The last stop for the day was Wat Benchamabophi (Marble Temple).
It was really pretty, but unfortunately it was under renovation. We asked our guide to drop us off at a Thai massage place and for 1000 Baht (or $35) both Ben and I received an hour Thai massage. It was an interesting experience. I think Ben enjoyed it more than me. I just don't like being in pain. The masseuses used their feet, body weight, and pulled and twisted my body as if I was doing yoga. Ben equated some of what they did to wrestling moves. We visited the night market and then took a ski train (subway in the air) and ended up at the Blue Elephant for dinner. It was expensive, but it was so good. I feel in love with Thai food here.