I'm writing this blog post from a hostel in Phuket Thailand! But first, let me tell you about about Bangkok...
Amanda (a fellow Mountaineer, who is also studying at a different university in Hong Kong this semester) and I left for Bangkok Tuesday night. After the easiest and most amazing plane flight we took a taxi to our hotel. The hotel itself wasn't much, but the location was awesome! It was like a little backpacker haven, with streets of restaurants, bars and street vendors - selling everything Thai and delicious! Fried rice noodles, fresh fruit in a bag, fresh fruit smoothies, and Amanda and I's favorite...spring rolls with sweet and spicy Thai sauce!
Our accommodations were also a ten minute walk from the most famous sights in Bangkok...The Grand Palace, The Temple of the Emerald Buddha (Wat Pha Kaew), and Wat Pho.
The Grand Palace is where the former king of Thailand used to live and it is right beside The Temple of the Emerald Buddha - which was breathtaking! The temple itself is covered with colorful glass-like tiles. Some of the tiles were colored and mirror-like, reflecting the sun and making the temple shine. The ornamentation of the temple is to rever the Emerald Buddha that is housed inside!
Behind The Grand Palace and The Emerald Buddha is Bangkok's oldest and largest temple, Wat Pho. Wat Pho houses the Thailand's biggest reclining Buddha, 46m long and 15m high - this position illustrates the passage of Buddha into final nirvana. However, at the time, Amanda and I didn't know this temple was where the huge reclining Buddha was, and we missed it! We didn't even see the huge Buddha, you "cannot miss"! So we had to go back the next morning - and it was so worth it!
The Buddha was really huge and really amazing to see. The huge female Buddha is made out of plaster around a brick core and finished in gold leaf. The biggest, golden Buddha I've ever seen! The feet of the Buddha were also huge and covered with mother-of-pearl. The mother-of-pearl was in a textile/design displaying 108 different characteristics of Buddha!
The rest of our day was dedicated to more sightseeing around Bangkok. We saw the City Pillar Shrine, Democracy Monument, and the Golden Mount - which is a temple that overlooks the city of Bangkok.
Then we ended our day with...Muay Thai Boxing!
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