River Tour and Temples

On Saturday morning we hopped in a boat to cruise up the Chao Phraya River and a few of the canals that branch from it. I had no idea that Bangkok was full of canals and even though people don't fully rely on them for transportation anymore, there are still lots of river taxis and communities that are built around the canals.


This was Ben's first time in a boat and he was a little freaked out at first. He refused to let go of my finger, as you may be able to tell by the lack of circulation. After a while he relaxed and started to enjoy himself but he was pretty glad to get off. We pointed out some boats to him on Sunday and he said "no boats!". Guess we'll hold off on more boat rides for a while :)

The mix of wealth and poverty was everywhere as we saw gilded temples next to shacks.

The open-air market was interesting and full of exotic and smelly things to eat.

We visited Wat Pho temple, home of a 150-foot long reclining buddha.



The temple grounds are so ornate! This is said to be home of the traditional Thai massage and now the most well-known school for people to train. We've gotten several massages on our trips to Thailand and they're pretty intense - it's like having yoga done to you. No laying there and relaxing because the masseuse uses her hands, feet, knees, and elbows and works out all your joints and muscles.

We took a tuk-tuk (motorcycle taxi) to the Grand Palace. They are a great way to get around because you can travel for less than one US dollar.

The Grand Palace complex was really impressive and reminded me a little of Disneyworld because there was so much to take in. We could have easily spent the entire day here but it was getting hot and we were tired and hungry. The royal residences are here as well as many government buildings and temples.

All of the buildings are just beautiful and even appeal to the ears as well as the eyes because many have windchimes hanging around the roofline.

Ben liked the waterlilies everywhere.

He also liked the golden chedi and pretended he was picking things off it and eating them.


We saw a miniature replica of the Angkor Wat temple, although I'm not sure why it was there. It's actually in Cambodia and another place I'd love to visit.

The detail everywhere just amazed me. No part of any building was left plain.


The Royal Monastery of the Emerald Buddha was beatiful and you can just see the buddha inside. He's about 45cm tall and actually made of one solid piece of jade, but the abbot that discovered him in the 1400's cased inside plaster thought he was made of emerald and the name stuck.

The Chakri Maha Prasat is used for state functions and celebrations.
It was a terrific day of exploring! We took Ben back to the hotel to rest while Matt and I visited Jim Thompson's house. He was the founder of Jim Thompson Thai Silk Company and had an amazing teak home full of interesting artifacts. We also visited two local homes where the families still make and sell beautiful silk. Check out the next post for the most exciting things we saw!