WAT NIWET THAMAPRAWAT: Across the river from the Palace was this temple. In order to get there you had to cross the river in a trolley cart that was suspended in the air by a cable and a monk would sit in the tower all day and ride a bike to power the cart across the river. Unlike all the other temples that I have seen, this one looks more like a Gothic Christian church more than anything else. I also got a chance to see how the monks lived. There was a small community of monks that lived around the temple, but all of these monks were about 15 years or younger. All they basically have is the orange robe that they wear, and another when they wash the first robe.
WAT YAI CHAYA MONGKHON: Went to another temple the same morning, but this one contained a huge chedi (looks like a round pyramid and is bell-shaped) and was wrapped in a yellow cloth, the same kind that all of the Buddha's are wrapped into. It also had a very large reclining Buddha in the compound.
SRI SATCHANALAI HISTORICAL PARK: Later that day we went up into central Thailand to see the ruins of Ayuthaya. This was the first city and was the old capital of Siam (Thailand) from 1350 - 1767. It was attacked by the Burmese and all that is left now is ruins. I was able to walk around and climb the ruins and they span the length of an entire city. There are concrete roads built within the city now, but it was still an amazing site to see the ruins of a city. You were also able to take a tour of the city via elephant, but I'm gonna wait for my elephant ride later on in the trip. When I go to Chiang Mai, Thailand, I have to ride an elephant through the tropical rain forest on my trek with the local tribesman in order to get to the city. There are also many elephants in certain parts of Bangkok that are on the streets and in the alleyways. You can buy peanuts and feed them to the elephant. It gets some takin' used to to see elephants walking around a major city like Bangkok.
WAT CHANG LOM: Next to the ruins was this wat, but it is basically the same as any other temple. The only thing with this temple was that there was a large bell-shaped chedi supported by 36 elephants sculpted into its base. There was also markets that I went to around the wat that sold pretty much anything you could imagine.
WEEKEND MARKET: Went to the weekend market the next day and rode the Skytrain for the first time. All it is is a monorail that runs through a small part of the city. This market was huge. Within two minutes of walking inside, I got lost from my friends and I spent the next few hours walking around the market. I didnt even get to see half of the market in the few hours I was there because it's soo big. This is where you can get great deals on stuff...clothing, jewelry, watches, etc. After the market I took my first motorcycle taxi back to school. It was crazy. The ride took about 35 minutes, but the guy was weaving in and out of traffic, and cutting it pretty close, squeezing between cars and buses. It seems like there are absolutely no road rules and its every man for themself on the road.
PAT PONG: Later that night I went to Pat Pong (the red light district). Went to an Irish pub called O'Reilley's. They had a band called THE BETTER playing there. These guys dressed as THE BEATLES, sounded like THE BEATLES, and all they sang were songs from THE BEATLES. It was a great time and we got a chance to meet and talk to them during a break. These four Thai guys just started this group about 3 years ago and began growing their hair like each member in the original band and learned every song THE BEATLES have ever released.
**Have been starting to plan my trip to China and am looking towards going to Beijing and seeing THE GREAT WALL, Tienamen Square, and maybe going to Shanghai and stopping off at Laos on the way back. I have 2 weeks to travel after midterms, so if anyone knows anything about China and good places to go let me know.
