I'm Watted Out...

I went to see the Grand Palace, Wat Phra Kaeo, and Wat Po and it was spectacular! After securing a ride to Kanchanaburi, I began my walk to the Grand Palace, home of the royal family. I was approached by several tuk-tuk drivers trying to convince me that it was closed and to go with them for a private tour, where they take you to a gem shop to con you into buying fake gems or worse. I was told by several books and friends about this scam so I declined any offers, but it makes me so paranoid about anyone who seems the least bit friendly. I don't want to be suspicious, but when they are hounding you or trying to give you the hard sell to buy stuff, it can make you a bit untrusting. I learned to avoid eye contact.

Anyhoo, I got to the Grand Palace just fine, dressed appropriately and ready to tour the compound, which is HUGE! There were hundreds of tourists there, including a trio of men from Japan who asked me to take their pic in front of the palace. I obliged and one of them offered to take my pic for me (so nice!). He then took a great interest in my camera and were very impressed by the wide angle lens and features. My stereotype of Japanese and their love of technology was firmly cemented at this point. They were nice as can be and laughed the whole time. They probably would have been fun to get drunk with! I know, safety first...

Wat Phra Kaeo is on the Grand Palace grounds and the tall golden bot you see is really made of gold. Christ, you gotta big gold building, but the rest of the city is squalor? Nice. Anyhoo, I really can't say anthing bad about their government since I know so little, but I do know this. They LOVE the king (King Rama IX). This dude has posters and murals with his image all over and you'll even find his picture in most family's home. Can you imagine living in a country where everyone thinks their leader is the shit? Hahahahahaha. Back to the buildings. The ornamentation on the buildings is incredible. Check out some of the pics to get an idea of the workmanship. Truly spectalular.

After taking a zillion pics and leaving the palace I realized something terrible - I forgot to go inside one of the buildings to see the Emerald Buddha! Doh. It's a solid jade carving of Buddha an I missed it. There were over 25 buildings on the compound so I missed it somehow so I'm a bit annoyed that I didn't get to see it. When I got to Wat Po, I saw something ten times cooler, the Reclining Buddha! It was impressive to say the least (reminded me of my boyfriend when he lays on the couch watching football on Sundays). This made me less annoyed for the rest of the day.

After this was done I treated myself to a watermelon smoothie and started walking home, only to realize I was walking in the wrong direction and had to turn back and trek all the way home. My feet were killing me by the time I got to my room. It was at this moment that I needed to get out of the city and be somewhere green and more managable. After bit of rest, I grabbed some dinner and walked around the backpacker area, almost bought some bootleg DVD's and then went home for some sleep.

Enjoy the pics! I have a lot of Photoshopping to do when I get home. The heat makes all the images a bit hazy and I need to try to get rid of some of the people in the pics. Wheee!