Bangkok - Day 1

Today we took a tour of the Royal Palace Grounds and the spectacular Wat Phra Keo with its Emerald Buddha, Golden Chedi, Pantheon of Kings and Towers of Nine Planets. The Royal grounds are absolutely beautiful - made of both Chinese, Thai, and Cambodian Architecture. The walls are pure gold and hand painted. You can tell the difference between Thai and Chines - Thai is very colorful and shiny, while the Chinese is made out of ceramic materials. I can see why this is one of the 7 wonders - SO BEAUTIFUL. Everything has so much detail that you can't take it all in by just walking by. This palace is the 4th capital of Thailand. The King had to keep moving because of the wars in Burma. This has now stood since 1876, with no fear of being moved anytime soon.

We also followed a few Buddhist traditions today -

-Made a wish at the front of the Wat Phra Keo by dipping a flower in holy water and then pouring the water on my head, as well as Jeff's.

- Praying in front of the beloved Emerald Buddha by clasping our hands and bending over to the ground. The Emerald Buddha has its clothes changed by the season. If you do a close up on this picture he is wearing a gold robe for winter. In summer he wears vines and flowers and in the rainy season he wears a shawl.

While we only saw a few temples today, it is overwhelming. Bangkok has 450 temples, while all of Thailand has 30,000. It is the biggest city in all of Thailand, which has a total of 76 cities. There is a lot to do here - including tons of markets for bargaining!

After the palace tour, we took a relaxing cruise along the bustling Chaeo Phaya River and canals to enjoy picturesque scenes of typical Thai canal life. These people live very simple lives, not buying food or water, but by cultivating it from the earth. Water is collected during the rainy season from drippings off their roofs. Ater boiling, this water will last them all year. Their land is worth much more than their homes. For one acre of land along the canal it is $3000. For a home it would only cost you a mere $500. These people are very poor, but are content with their lives. We were laughing that in the US, we would be selling off our land to make a huge profit!

We also fed the fish in the canal, which is a major source of food for these people. The koy fish were HUGE!!! I would never want to fall out of the longboat! Beware - it is unlawful to kill fish by the temple! They are sacred there.

We also took a tour of the Royal Barg Museaum to see the historical barges of Thai kings. The Royal family has 4 private boats and another 48 boats that makes up the Royal security for when the King travels the canal.

Finally we visited Wat Arun, the spectacular Temple of Dawn. This was absolutely beautiful.

We were very hungry by the end of this tour, so we visited the local supermarket, where they have a diner. I had Pad Thai and Vegetable Spring Rolls - REALLY GOOD! Jeff, of course, had a cheeseburger. Can't take the Wisconsin out of this man! We are also enjoying Singha and Klostner - the beer of Thailand! This entire meal only cost us $13!