Thailand (Bangkok) June 2011

16 hours in Bangkok...
    with such limited time, we knew that we could only pick a couple things to do in the big city. We stayed at a hotel on the Chao Phraya River, the main river that runs through Bangkok. We were absolutely amazed by the life on the river! We hopped on a water taxi to explore the river area and see a temple...and when I say hopped on the taxi, I mean you better get on those things fast!! There was no dilly dallying...the horn blows and you have seconds to decide whether you want on or off the boat. We also were riding during 'rush hour', so there were quite a few people using the water taxi as regular transportation...kids on their way home from school too!
 

Chris waiting for the water taxi

On the back of the water taxi 

Working on the river. There were some tugs out there too!

Guy just chillin'

Wat Arun from the river

Once we jumped off the water taxi, we made a split decision to visit Wat Pho, the temple of the Reclining Buddah. There were some very cool statues near the entrance. 

There was some major sketchiness going on outside of the temple walls...like someone telling us it was closed and trying to get us to go elsewhere. Turns out that those are usually scammers trying to get you in their taxi or Tuk Tuk to go see some 'gems'. More on sketchy taxis in my future post on Thailand with Diana. Once inside the temple area, it was absolutely gorgeous. Check out the detail on these chedis (literally meaning mounds-most of which contain Buddhist relics)!

My super cool 'skirt'

Before heading inside the temple, I was asked to wear a 'skirt' to cover my legs...guess short shorts are not the best idea for temples...oops!! It was just so hot!! Now I know for next time though. When we went in to see the Reclining Buddha, we were shocked at how big it was! It's 50ft tall and 143ft long. There were so many little details to appreciate as well...

 Big Buddha head...

     Buddha feet...

 Big Buddha backend...

...and special Buddha pillow

After our express trip to Wat Pho, we made our way back down the river to our hotel. We enjoyed the view for a few minutes before we had to head back out to meet Chris' college friend, Jai, for dinner. 

Our cool view from the 35th floor of our hotel!! I was pretty excited :)  

Jai got stuck at work, but he sent us to a pretty cool place to enjoy the night view of Bangkok... little did we know that we were standing where Hangover 2 was filmed! haha. Great end to a whirlwind of a day in Bangkok!

The Lebua State Tower at night

Bangkok