1-8-08 A Day in Bangkok

We woke up extremely early due to jet lag and didn't have much to do but get an early start on the day. We threw on our money belts, grabbed the long pants and shirts so we could enter temples and headed out. It was funny, at first we were so scared to eat anywhere for fear that we might get sick that we were only looking in the Lonely Planet guidebook to Thailand for places to eat. The one we tried opened late, so we pretty much didn't eat until lunch and we went all the way back to the same place! We even ate their twice that day since we didn't want to risk it anywhere else. It was ridiculous how paranoid we were!

We wandered the streets of Bangkok looking for the recommended temples to see, typical tourist stuff, and the locals could tell... They all descended on us telling us this lie or that lie, or maybe bending the truth to convince us that the temples we wanted to see were closed and their friend could take us to some other temples that were "just as good!" Yeah.... right.... Well, Nath had read "Read This First - South East Asia" and was ready for it. We knew the scam and kept walking.

Eventually we figured out that the King's sister really did die, and that some of the temples were closed at least part of the day, but the ones we wanted to see weren't ALL closed ALL day like all the scam artists were trying to tell us. We managed to find the temple of the reclining Budda, containing a 150' golden budda lying down. We did the mandatory walk through and snapped a few shots, but outside of the temples were equally beautiful and I'm sure we ended up taking way too many pictures of the place. While we were there, we indulged in our first thai massage since in the back of the temple the local massage school has set up a place for the students to practice their art. We had a 1 hour massage for about $11 a piece. Spectacular! We didn't do too much else that day, except wander a little, and we slept early due to jet lag and the fact that we had to wake up at 4am or so to make our plane in the Bangkok Internation Airport to Krabi

We woke up, caught another overpriced cab, and were soon waiting for our plane to take off. It was late, but not too late, and we were in Krabi before we knew it. After a few bus rides, we were on the paradise island of Ko Lanta (Ko means island in Thai). While on the bus, a local shared with us that you don't have to barter for cabs, you just get it and order them to use the meter and they are required by law to use it! You live you learn. We'll put that trick to use when we pass through Bangkok in the future.