Thailand - Bangkok Part Two

The Thailand adventure continues!

We split up a little, with Elizabeth and Eldest heading out to get massages from the famous Wat Pho massage school, and Pat, Dave, Michael, and the littles taking a ferry across the river to see Wat Arun.  Also called "The Temple of the Dawn", Wat Arun dominates the old city skyline to the west and is surrounded by gardens.

The gate was open, so we came in.

Toddler for scale.

It's not obvious, but those are the steepest stairs.

Reunited back on the east bank, we explored the rest of the Wat Pho temple complex.  In addition to the massage school, this temple, also called "The Temple of the Reclining Buddha", houses a (wait for it) giant reclining Buddha!

I like this photo because it looks like a composite of other photos.

This photo may technically be illegal in Thailand.

We took a day trip to visit Ayutthaya, the old capital of the Kingdom of Siam.  It was a thriving metropolis until it was sacked by the Burmese in 1767 and the new capital was established across the river from modern-day Bangkok.  Today Ayutthaya is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with ancient Stupas sprouting out of the ground throughout the modern city like brick-and-mortar mushrooms.  The more complete and significant sites are fenced off with an admission fee, but there were also ruins in peoples' backyards and city parks.

Taken just before they started wrestling on a 500-year-old temple.

Obligatory they-grow-up-so-fast photo of Danger Monkey :

Cute kids are cute.

Peekaboo!

Thailand is pretty.

"Look upon my works ye mighty and despair!"

This picture does a pretty good job of illustrating the layers that have been stripped off of these structures.  Towards the bottom of the photo you can still see some of the original intricate white stucco decoration.  Beneath the decoration was a layer of smooth mortar and stucco, and underneath that fired bricks that made up the majority of the construction material.  The exterior stucco layer would also have been inlaid with mosaics of colored glass and Chinese porcelain.

All of these temples were really meant to be visited by boat, so we took a relatively quick boat tour around the island to get the intended experience.  It was a bit drizzly, but it turns out we'll never pass up an opportunity for a boat trip on a vacation.

More boats!

Back in Bangkok the next day it was still raining so Pat & Dave went off to explore some smaller museums, and the SingaBorcherts took a taxi to a ritzy mall to find an indoor play area.  After running the kids around for awhile we braved the legendarily bad Bangkok traffic to hit one last temple of the trip.   Wat Chakrawatrachawat Woramahawihan is a smaller, functioning temple that has two things going for it.  

Number One: A Crocodile.  The original crocodile was pulled out of the river and kept in the temple to keep it from harassing the people bathing in the river, but by the time it died of old age they had become famous as the temple with a crocodile, so they now keep one in residence.

Worst zoo ever?  Or best temple ever?

Number Two: The best Buddha relic ever.  Similar to Catholic saints, relics of Buddha and devout monks are enshrined in temples and serve as the focal point for veneration and pilgrimages.  And just like Catholic relics, Buddhist relics can also be a bit... suspect.  There was some controversy when a big Buddhist temple opened in Singapore's Chinatown in the 1980's that purported to have one of Buddha's teeth.  But that pales in comparison to this temple, which purports to be in possession of...

Buddha's Shadow.  Decorated with snippets of gold leaf by pilgrims come to pay their respects.  In a concrete grotto.  I love it.

Anyways!  After paying our respects, we strolled to the night market where agricultural products from the surrounding area (mostly flowers) are brought by wholesalers to find their way to restaurants and religious supply stores.  We also found a commercial ice store, where plastic bags were being filled with ice and sold to people that trucked them away in wheelbarrows.  It was a pretty strange operation.

This picture doesn't do justice to the amount of fog rolling out of this place.

After our last dinner overlooking the Chao Phraya river we Tuk-tuk'ed back to our Airbnb.  A fitting end to a great trip.

Tuk-tuks are BYOGPS.