After a few days of R&R at the beach its time to head back to the heat of Bangkok to explore the city and cultural landmarks.
Our first stop is Suan Pakkad Palace, the actual royal residence of Prince and Princess Chumbhot of Nagara Svarga, who converted the estate to a public museum displaying traditional Thai architecture and the family's collection of antiques and ancient artifacts
There are a series of 4 raised houses which are connected by a series of covered walkways and bridges. Raising the structures helped cool them, protect them from flooding, and preserve them by preventing the wooden structures from maintaining contact with the ground, which tends to stay damp.
A typical market street, this vendor specializes in dried & salted seafood, kind of like jerky, and a great snack with beer.
We decided to stop for a bit of shade, some re-hydration, and of course a bit of street food, in this case Pad Thai...
...and some grilled pork
...and then a nap
You can just start to make out Wat Arun across the river from this riverfront market street. Although today automobiles are the primary form of transportation, traditionally water was the main from of transportation as is reflected in the layout of Thai cities and extensive network of canals.
Wat Arun, or the Temple of Dawn, named for the Hindu God Aruna, is an architectural representation of Mount Meru, the center of the world in Buddhist cosmology. This Buddhist temple is among the most famous in Thailand, known for the way it reflects the early morning sun.
While the temple dates to at least the 17th century the most distinctive feature, the central tower dates to the 19th century and was constructed under the direction of King Rama II.
The central tower is 79 meters tall, and visitors are able to climb about 1/2 of the way to the top, although the stairs are quite steep and narrow
The view of the city from the observation level is magnificent
The towers are ornamented in bits of shell and porcelain that were used as ballast for ships coming to Bangkok from China
Our next stop is Wat Pho, also known as the Temple of the Reclining Buddha, one of the oldest and largest temples in Bangkok.
Finally some people to provide scale so you can get understand the enormity of this Buddha, which is 15m high and 43m long
Overall there are more than 1000 Buddha images in this temple
After a long hot day touring the city, Pudtan and Warut take us to a special restaurant to try some Thai specialties
Knowing how much I like beer and snacks Pudtan introduced me to cashews mixed with red onion, lime, sweet peppers, and of course Thai chilies to give it a little kick. I enjoyed it so much they ordered another one for us to take home and snack on the next day. Thank you!!!
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