June 9 -- Bangkok in a day

Our backpacking hotel was the most gross place I have ever stayed, I am completely baffled about it's good reviews on trip adviser and fully intend to add my own account shortly after posting this blog. The worst part was the lack of sleep due to the knowledge that every time I closed my eyes that I wouldn't be able to see anything potentially crawling/flying in our room.

We woke up early, and got ready quickly to site see while it was still cool outside. Our first stop was 7-11 for breakfast and water, and then we began our walk to the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaeo (co-located). The large Wat (temple) is covered in gold leaf, ceramic flowers, and color-mirrored glass tiles. I love the picture below of the mirror glass tiles that Sean took, look for him in the photo! This national treasure absolutely glowed in the morning sun. We hired a local guide to give us an hour tour, and were so glad that we did, his knowledge of the symbolism of the art, and the history of it made it even seem more special. We also saw a very famous Buddha, called the emerald Buddha. It is actually a large single piece of jade.

After the Palace and temple we boarded a longtail boat (a sort of skiff with a turbodiesel on a stick strapped to the back) for a canal cruise of the Chao Praya. Because our guide wanted a pack of smokes and ice, we went on canals less traveled, giving us an interesting insight into the daily life of the people who live on the canal, and the river. The main mode of transportation seemed to be a small flat bottem boat which could hold two people, but usually just one, about 7 feet in length. The boat driver dropped us off at Wat Po.

Wat Po is also called "temple of the reclinging Buddah" and has a buddah which is over 151 long and 53 feet tall. The grounds around the buddah are equally as stunning, covered in the same mirrored glass tiles and ceramic flowers.

Once our tour of Wat Po was completed we went back to Mae Kadiee's for vegetarian thai food for a late lunch (there is a reason that this is the only restaurnt in our area mentioned in Frommers). We walked back to our hotel, up to our room, and two minutes later the skies opened and the afternoon rain came pouring down. We took a short siesta, checked our email, waited for the rain to stop, and then relaxed the rest of the evening at a local open air restaurant. We even made a new friend there who was like an Austrian version of our friend Joel, the similarities were delightfully eerie.