The biggest attractions in Bangkok were the temples. This shows several parts of Wat Phra Kaew, which lies within the Grand Palace and houses the "Emerald Buddha" (actually jade). The Buddha was actually covered in plaster, but during a move was dropped and its inner beauty was revealed. He now wears different outfits depending on the season and sits in these awe-inspiring surrounds.
Nick has proven more adventurous than I, in many ways, but none so clearly as with food. I can't take any spice, which eliminates a vast swath of Thai cuisine, but Nick steps up and tries anything. He also often gives Dan full control over our dinner order (which is really relatively wise, since Dan has pretty good taste to begin with, and can also read and speak Thai). But some of Nick's culinary choices I question -- such as his enthusiasm for this yogurt, which came with corn kernels and kidney beans.
On our first island, Koh Samui, we went to a little jungle park with elephants, crocodiles, monkeys, and a beautiful waterfall. I got to feed this guy -- a huge bunch of tiny bananas, which he took with his trunk and popped in his mouth, unperturbed by the peel. This entire activity also resulted in large amounts of elephant slobber distributed in various places on my body (i.e., like Wellie, the elephant was unaware of how he slings it).
Our second island, Koh Tao, was quite picturesque -- and is apparently one of the best diving sites in Asia. Unfortunately, Nick's scheduled dive did not take place -- due to the coconut-launching, roof-destroying, gale-force winds monsoon that arrived midday on Saturday. We made the best of it and instead hiked to a far northern point on the island, where we had a good view and a drink.
We also got to see some fire throwers one night in Koh Tao. This one in particular was quite accomplished with the fiery baton, also with throwing it up in the air and catching it behind his back.
Tomorrow we fly back through Bangkok to Chiang Mai, in the north of Thailand, where we spend two days before hitting Country No. 2, Laos.
1 comment:
Beautiful pictures! I like that the Emerald Buddha has seasonal outfits, although all I can picture are those yard geese that people dress up. You know, a rain suit in April, the pilgrim look in November or some random dress and bonnet. Were you allowed to take pictures of the Emerald Buddha? I need a visual to replace my vision of Buddha in a giant yellow slicker.
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