Bangkok

After an amazing week in the Dolphin Bay area of Thailand, we made the trek back to Bangkok. We spent a day here seeing various sights and managed to pack a ton in one day! We took a boat along the river. It is said that to be Thai is to be Buddhist. So our first stop was the reclining Buddha at Wat Poh. It is an impressive sight. Next we went across the river to another temple, Wat Arun (Temple of the Dawn). For some reason, I had been reluctant to take the time to go across the river to see this one (not sure why), but it turned out to be my favorite thing we did all day. At this temple, you can climb to the top. The view of Bangkok is spectacular. The steps were incredibly steep, which just added to the adventure. After sampling some of Bangkok's famous banana pancakes, we were onto the Grand Palace. For those of you not familiar with Thailand, they have very strong feelings and affection for their royal family. So much so that you can be fined for defaming the king's picture (which includes the money that bears a picture of the king). Because of this, the dress code for entering the Palace and accompanying temple (where the royal family worships) is strict: no shorts or tank tops. Shortly after we got there, I saw a sign telling about a free tour in English starting in 10 minutes. The tour proved to be very interesting and even the kids were listening and learning new things about Thailand. A busy day, but a great end to our trip.

Our super tourists on the skytrain.

Courtyard at Wat Poh

The Reclining Buddha -- this was impressively huge.

Tori pointing at the toes

Wat Arun (Temple of the Dawn)

Tori conquering the steps -- did I mention they were steep?

At the top of Wat Arun

The view from the top

Then the other direction along the river

Climbing down.

Courtyard at the Grand Palace. And yes, that building is covered in gold leaf. Impressive, huh?

Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha) located within the Grand Palace.

The Emerald Buddha can just barely be seen through the doorway.