Historic Bangkok

We woke up on Boxing Day and caught a long-boat to take us to the Wats. (Wat=Temple). Long-boats are everywhere along the Chao Phraya River, and $20 will allow you to avoid the crowded public ferries. The public ferries are only $1, so we only took two long-boat rides during our stay. It was one of my most favorite parts though....It was a big V8 engine on the back of a wooden boat!

Here are some shots as we traveled up the river.

In order to enter the Wats, you have to be appropriately dressed (no bare arms, shorts must be to the knees, and you must take off your shoes when going inside). Michael was inappropriately dressed, so he got to borrow a pair of fancy pants.

We first went to visit Wat Phra Kaew and the Grand Palace (all in the same "complex"). Wat Phra Kaew is the temple of the Emerald Buddha, and although he's actually made of jade, we still payed the 66 cm Buddha a visit. He sits so far above worshipers that really you have to squint to see him, but there were fans in the building, so it was a nice reprieve from the heat.

We then went to Wat Pho to see the Reclining Buddha...the longest reclining Buddha in the world.

We walked around Wat Pho for awhile taking in the sites until the heat got the best of us.

We made our way to the Wat Pho Thai Massage School and got an hour massage for $10. It wasn't the classiest looking place, but the massage was great!

That night we met our friends from Hong Kong, Nina and Nick for a dinner river cruise. Nina and Nick were also in Bangkok for Christmas and we overlapped for a few days. The river cruise was great and the Thai food was delicious! After dinner we went out to Patpong. Patpong is described in my travel book as "the world's most infamous strip of go-go bars and clubs running 'exotic' shows". My mother would be appalled if I went into more detail about our little excursion, so that's all I'll say about Patpong.

We had a great day exploring historic Bangkok. Hope you all enjoyed your Boxing Day!

xx,

Lauren