Had a Blast in Bangkok!!! (Part Two)

Wat Arun (The Temple of Dawn)

We visited this temple during a long-tail-boat "cruise" of the Chao Phraya River, canals, and waterways. (More on this adventure later...)

As you can see, I got to wear some more sweet "borrowed" clothes, although this time I was only required to cover my shoulders and knees. I say "borrowed" because you have to pay a fee to "borrow" the clothes, and you don't get it back! ( Just a couple of bucks.)

This temple was not nearly as well kept as the Royal Palace, but it is noteworthy because of the climb to the top. The high tower of this temple is one of the prominent monuments of Bangkok.

It's not that it was particularly high (~225 feet), just very, very steep!

I hate heights, and like this kid, I was "crawling" up these stairs!

Michael, of course, enjoyed the views with his camera! From the top of this temple, we could see much of Bangkok, The Royal Palace, and the river below.

Well, as you can see, we made it! (Check out the lady to our right... I kid you not, it was quite the fright getting to the top. She, of course, made the trek so that she could pray and pay homage to Buddha, but we were more interested in the amazing views of Bangkok and the river!)

Check out this picture. What a view! It doesn't really do it justice though. At this point, I was really hoping that someone would offer me a zip line to get back to the river. But, alas, we had to descend using those darn steep steps!

Another temple we visited was called Wat Po (Temple of the Reclining Buddha). We walked to this temple after the Royal Grand Palace.

Just about every wall inside this complex was lined with endless rows of these larger-than-life gold Buddha statues in the sitting posture.

But, the real draw of this temple was the largest reclining Buddha in Thailand (and I think the world?). It is 150 feet long and 40 feet high (completely covered in gold). Michael did a great job of capturing this massive Buddha, don't you think?

I also snapped a quick picture of the Buddha's feet, which have been inlaid with mother-of-pearl to display the 108 auspicious signs which distinguish a true Buddha. I enjoyed the intricate mother-of-pearl details on the bottoms of the Buddha's feet much more than the shiny gold of the Buddha itself. (Afterall, we had been looking at gold all day!)