One Day in Bangkok

Literally..we had one day in Bangkok. As advised from many people Bangkok can be overwhelming and one day is all you need. So we took it by storm...well as much storm as 3 people (yes, Ryan was still absent) can be amid  12.5 MILLION people.

We started the day out by figuring out the SkyTrain system. I had to admit we were quite the trio. Nate and Katie on the navigation, and me on the documentation (i.e. photos). Nate committed the first cultural no no of the day when he kicked money with his foot that had dropped on the ground. This was the FIRST thing we ready about (the King's picture is on the money, and feet are considered very dirty in this culture). Oops.

We caught the river boat, which was pretty cool except for two things.
1) There was this freaky baby sitting right by the ticket station.
2) Nate is really mad that we paid 3 times more than we needed to..which by the way was like $2 more.

To say we were prepared is an overstatement, BUT within 5 minutes of stepping off the boat, we warded off 2 scams so we were feeling pretty triumphant as we headed into the Grand Palace. I can't do the beauty of this place justice so I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. We were in awe of how ornate everything was...

 

  

 

 

The architecture was not the only thing ornate in Bangkok....I think that word could also be used to describe the smell. The smell was 'interesting'...a combination of thousands of different smells to make one big unique odor...eau de Bangkok if you will. This smell was most prevalent walking along the streets amid packed vendor stalls that ranged from flower stalls (yummy) to stacks of dried fish (...not as yummy). Let's just say I didn't quite muster up the courage to try street food in Bangkok because my nose overpowered my stomach.

We also went to Wat Pho, a temple for the Reclining Buddha. This particular Buddha is my personal favorite so far on the trip. First, it was HUGE...massive in scale. Second...it's feet bottoms were made out of mother of pearl.

 

 

Third, this was the site of our first Thai Massage. Here is a pic of Katie and Nate in their post-bliss massage stupor. We all got a 1-hour foot massage. One may ask what could you possibly need your feet rubbed for 1 hour for...but let me tell you you do. And I fear that we may all be addicted to massage by the end of this trip. Anyone care to guess the cost of said 1-hour massage? $8. And that was on the spendy side.....

I wish I could share some CRAZY story about our one-night in Bangkok but the reality is we all fell asleep at about 6PM, and woke up at 8:30, and decided to call it a day. Was it lame? Yes. Were we completely adjusted to Thai time after one night even if it meant sleeping for almost 11 hours? Yes...so I would say it was definitely worth it.

AND the best surprise of all came at 4AM when Ryan came around the corner smiling, with new passport in hand...ready to take on Thailand with the rest of us. The group was complete.