My nose told me I was in Thailand. The first thing I noticed was the delicious smell of curry as I stepped off the plane and made my way into the airport. I breathed it in deeply and knew that Bangkok would be a place never to forget.
I was traveling with my Mom and our friends the Garner’s who lived in Singapore had arranged for us to have a driver. Bangkok was labeled DANGEROUS they were in the middle of a coup. Now, I don’t know if we were dumb or just too hard headed and cheap. We had planned to go to Thailand and that is what we were going to do. Who cares about a coup.
The first place we stopped was the Chatuchak weekend market. It was a huge market that I can only compare to a swap meet. There are so many things to see at the market and every “street” sold different types of goods.
At the Market. No-Make up…a trend in Asia.
My Mom she looks tired, hungry, and HOT. What a good sport, she says I walked her legs off. However, she did find a SUPER cute wallet at this market. Oh and we shared some of that coconut ice cream it was yum.
Bangkok Sunset. Amazing.
On our second day in Bangkok we went to the floating market. You sit in boats and drive around this canal to buy goods. It was very interesting. I bought some Saffron.
Our next stop was actually KFC because all I had eaten in about three days was some steamed green spinachy stuff and a few rice noodles. My Mom and I shared three chicken fingers. She bought some soup at the floating market because she was starving. It had these gluttonous round slimy balls in them. They were called shrimp balls. Hmmmm. This is that the palace in Bangkok. It is not like anything I had ever seen before. I love this picture with the umbrella to the right.
There isn’t one detail missed. Everything is ornate, there is gold everywhere.
In the middle of this palace of gold and mosaics which are very beautiful I spy this flower. A Lotus flower. It solidifies my feelings that man can sure make some beautiful things. I mean seriously look at this palace in the background. It pales to the beauty of the earth and all of God’s creations.
I love doorways and halls.
I spy a gardener in the background.
This is a statue of a dog and you can roll that ball in its mouth back and forth.
It was right here that I was marveling at the way they were cutting these trees. I kept thinking wouldn’t it be SO much easier to use a cherry picker or something than that bamboo ladder?? I mean I was mesmerized. When a woman came up and she was a reporter for the associated press. She asked if we spoke English and then started asking us about the coup. We were then quoted in about 15 articles and news reports all over the globe. Here is the article: From Beaches to Bangkok, tourists ask What coup?
Monks walking in a row
On our way to Wat Pho
Wat Pho or what is known as the reclining Buddha
The bottom of the feet are inlaid with mother of pearl and they are huge. You can see the woman at the left corner.
I kept hearing these bells tinkling. It was money that people dropped in each of these pots the whooooole way down behind Wat Pho
The back of Wat Pho’s head…looks like yoga blocks.
Hello Elvis
A woman was selling cages of birds to be set free at the four headed Buddha
Finches
The Four Headed Buddha all of the flowers are offerings
There were people praying in front of the singers who were just behind the four headed Buddha. The costumes were amazing..the singing……well……If you have nothing nice to say….
These are golden elephants you can buy for???? Your house? (Didn’t you ALWAYS need one of those?) and the money goes to support some of this groups causes
Treats for the four headed Buddha
One of my favorite things in Bangkok. I was so hungry and then I spied a Mrs. Fields. I think they were the first carbs I had eaten in five days.
They had these delicious drinks in Asia. This is a fresh coconut smoothie. Oh my goodness. Delicious.
Dresses made of tissue and newspaper
Those. are. The drink sizes. Very Cool and Super Cool. I ask, “Where is the Big Gulp?”
We were able to stop at a Jim Thompson silk shop in the mall. Oh what beautiful things! I bought a pillow case cover.
Snacks! That I didn’t try.
Our hotel in Bangkok was amazing. We flopped onto the bed each night exhausted from a full day of sight seeing. The culture was so different and so amazing. I loved how everything was so new to me. I love that I was able to have this experience with my Mom.
To Wander Wonder XOXO- The Sunny D