Bangkok - Part I













 After we left HuaHin, we took a pilgrimage to Bangkok to stay at the Here Hostel.  Our hostel is right next to some very cool sites.  Here are some pictures of the Golden Mount and Wat Ratchanaddaram.  





There are excellent views of the city from the Golden Mount.


This is the back courtyard of our hostel.

We started our first full day by going to the Chatuchak Weekend Market. It is supposed to be the biggest outdoor market in Thailand. It just seems to go on forever. There is no way to see it all in one day, but what choice did we have but to try.




We ate some fried stuff and couldn’t eat anymore. So we went to Wat Pho. This has the largest Buddha statue anywhere.  Because he is reclining, it is supposed to symbolize him moving on to the next life.




Well that was Sunday and well worth our energy. On Monday we had the bike tour of our life. They took us off the beaten path through alleys and on boats. This was a great way to find out things about Bangkok, albeit a bit risky with the hairpin turns. There were a lot of tourists from Holland because this tour was started by someone from the Netherlands. I just gotta say that there a quite a few Buddhas and 7-11s in Bangkok.



You have to look closely to see the large lizard.



Lovely canals make you understand why they call Bangkok the Venice of the East.





Tuesday brought us to  a bakery for breakfast and then we continued on to Wat Suthat. You can pronounce it any way you like, but Jon likes it ,“What’s a that”. There are of course many more Buddhas and fancy buildings to house them. There were quite a few people meditating to them. The royals find the money to build them over the centuries.

In the afternoon we took a Thai cooking class with a woman named Nadga. She consults for many restaurants around the city. She gave us some tips for Southeast Asia cooking that will help me in the future.





We also took a stroll on the Khao San, known for being a backpacker destination.  Tons of locals hawking tourist stuff.  I picked up a 7-11 t-shirt for 6 bucks.  What?


Bangkok, and all of Thailand, seem safe and fun. We keep meeting up with all kinds of people willing to help us and buy us beers. We try to do the same whenever we can.

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