[MOM I CAN'T GO THERE'S AN ELEPHANT IN THE HALLWAY.]

Good morning from the bus ride between Bangkok and Kanchanaburi. Kanchanaburi is a small town near the River Kwai that we will be staying in for the next two nights. More on that tomorrow but today I want to write about the amazing time we had yesterday visiting The Grand Palace, seeing the Emerald Buddha, and enjoying a show all about the history of the Thai culture.

The morning started off with breakfast as usual and then off bright and early to see The Grand Palace. The palace gets very busy as the day goes on so we hit it early to avoid major chaos. Locals and tourists visit this temple on a daily basis; the locals visit to give offerings to the Emerald Buddha. The Grand Palace was the most beautiful place I have ever seen in my entire life, the pictures really don’t do it any justice. They pay so much attention to detail and the colors are so vibrant in every single building they make. King Rama 1 built the Grand Palace, and the royal family resided in this palace until 1946, now they live elsewhere.

The Temple of the Emerald Buddha was built by King Rama 1 to remind the people that everyone bows for the King, but even the King bows to Buddha. Our first day here we learned how to bow to people and that where you place your hands is different for different people in society. For people the same level in society and approximate age as you the hands go right below the chin, for the monk you bow with your hands at your nose, and the King the hands are on the forehead (because of course we are going to meet the King? haha) 

After walking around the grounds of The Grand Palace we went into the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, unfortunately cameras weren’t allowed inside the temple so I don’t get any pictures. You have to remove your shoes to walk into the temple and then you sit down so you can pray to Buddha. The Thai’s consider it extremely offensive to have your feet point at anyone so you must make sure to never face your feet towards Buddha. We sat for a moment and just took it all in. There were tons of people in the temple yet it was still so serene and peaceful. The Emerald Buddha is actually made of Jade and not Emerald and there is a long history behind the way that the Buddha ended up in Thailand. The history of the Emerald Buddha is apparently different in all of the neighboring countries but we learned the Thai’s perspective on its history. (I think they are all jealous they don’t have the Buddha) The Emerald Buddha was covered in plaster when it was found and later they realized there was a beautiful Jade Buddha underneath it. The Emerald Buddha is actually a very small Buddha, probably only about 2 feet tall, I was expecting it to be a lot larger. It was placed up high in the temple and surrounded by gold in every place you look. Before leaving we paid our respects to the Emerald Buddha by bowing to him and then went outside to splash ourselves with the holy water. You take a lotus flower from the water and then splash the water onto the top of your head.

After touring the Grand Palace and seeing the Emerald Buddha we headed back to Bangkok and did a little bit of exploring. My mom wanted another foot massage so we found a different shop that charged 200 Baht (approx $6.50) for one hour. Pretty sweet deal :)They are all about pampering you when you are there, they bring you tea and this place even gave a little back and shoulder massage at the end. We left a $1.50 tip for them, which is a realllllly good tip. It is mind-blowing to me how inexpensive that is compared to what you would pay in the United States. If you ever tipped someone a buck fifty they would be so offended! We wandered around a few markets and then ended up at the Jim Thompson silk store. My mom got a really cute flower top from the store, I’m sure you will see it in pictures sometime soon.

That evening we visited the Marble Hall, which is where they keep all of the artifacts that the King uses for his celebrations. No cameras were allowed in here either :( they even made us keep them in a locker along with all of our other belongings to ensure no photos were taken. The pieces in these rooms had the most intricate details and were made of all gold and gems. The signs all told a little bit of history about the pieces and would give facts about how long and how many people it took to make the piece of art. It would take about 30 Thai people months and months to make these pieces because they are so intricate. These pieces would be used for celebrations such as birthdays or anniversaries celebrating the kings reigning. All of these pieces must have been worth millions! It is interesting to me that the country is so poor but the King spends so much on making these pieces that only get used one time. The Thai people love their King though. His picture is everywhere around the city and there are yellow flags everywhere that are for the King. I even saw some Thai men wearing bracelets that said "long live the King."

After visiting the Marble Palace we headed to see a show that demonstrated the history of the Thai culture. There was a dinner before the show that offered tons of Thai food and coconut ice cream, which was soooo

 Fun Thailand fact for this post… Most of the performers in show were not actually woman but men, dressed as woman. The Thai’s call them “lady boys”, the same as we would call cross dressers or transvestites at home. They were very beautiful though and you really could not tell that they were men at all. The men and women here in Thailand hate the sun, they are always covering their skin because the like the lighter color better. Our trip leader told us “the lighter the better”, they actually use cream to lighten their skin. They all laugh at us Americans who pay money to have darker skin.

Sawsdee kah!
(Goodbye)