Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Day 3 in Bangkok, we went to Wat Po, which apparently goes by a different name now, but basically its the wat with the Reclining Buddha. (Side note: the interwebs tell me that just about everyone else has taken better pictures of the Reclining Buddha than I was able to. I may - just may - need a faster lens...)
It's right next to the Grand Palace, but Ian didn't feel like going there, so we left it for another day. We apparently picked the right day and/or time to go to Wat Po, though, because it wasn't jam-packed. There were some cool things:
And cats. Lots and lots of cats:
Then we wandered down to the river and went on a river tour, which was unfortunately hot when we had to wait for the locks (and the neckline on my shirt went sideways a bit, so I got a very jaunty angled-V sunburn) but otherwise awesome:
A woman paddled out and sold us some water. I didn't get a picture of her - I still feel mildly uncomfortable taking close-up pictures of people (unless I'm quickly moving out of their angry shouting/annoyance range) - but she looked like one of these:
Apparently, feeding fish is one of the attractions of the boat tour, and there is a specific location where people are supposed to throw the bread into the water to feed the fish. It's pretty clear the fish are aware of the spot, and hang out waiting to be fed.
Then we went to Wat Prayoon, which is apparently where the local monks take care of turtles. So there are turtles everywhere:
And there are also the ubiquitous catfish:
A woman was playing with this catfish, rubbing the food on it, and it would come out of the water gaping its mouth for it, for several minutes while her kids watched and giggled. It was hilarious to watch, though it did remind me a bit of Star Wars. :)
Then we took a taxi back to the apartment. I don't know why tourists ever take tuktuks in this town. Air condition taxis are super cost-efficient - a half-hour ride only costs about $3 - and they're air conditioned! AND, you're not inhaling pollution the entire time! Meanwhile, tuktuks are a set fee you have to negotiate - how would you ever know if you were overpaying? - and are open-air. And less safe. Eh, maybe it's one of those things you have to do once in Bangkok...though Ian tells me there are no taxis in Phnom Penh, only tuktuks, so I figure we can have our opportunity there. Well, Alex can have his; I've ridden in one before.
After that, we just hung out at the apt for the rest of the day and tried to a) cool down and b) consume our entire body weight in water. It was pretty fun. :)
It's right next to the Grand Palace, but Ian didn't feel like going there, so we left it for another day. We apparently picked the right day and/or time to go to Wat Po, though, because it wasn't jam-packed. There were some cool things:
And cats. Lots and lots of cats:
Then we wandered down to the river and went on a river tour, which was unfortunately hot when we had to wait for the locks (and the neckline on my shirt went sideways a bit, so I got a very jaunty angled-V sunburn) but otherwise awesome:
A woman paddled out and sold us some water. I didn't get a picture of her - I still feel mildly uncomfortable taking close-up pictures of people (unless I'm quickly moving out of their angry shouting/annoyance range) - but she looked like one of these:
Apparently, feeding fish is one of the attractions of the boat tour, and there is a specific location where people are supposed to throw the bread into the water to feed the fish. It's pretty clear the fish are aware of the spot, and hang out waiting to be fed.
Then we went to Wat Prayoon, which is apparently where the local monks take care of turtles. So there are turtles everywhere:
And there are also the ubiquitous catfish:
A woman was playing with this catfish, rubbing the food on it, and it would come out of the water gaping its mouth for it, for several minutes while her kids watched and giggled. It was hilarious to watch, though it did remind me a bit of Star Wars. :)
Then we took a taxi back to the apartment. I don't know why tourists ever take tuktuks in this town. Air condition taxis are super cost-efficient - a half-hour ride only costs about $3 - and they're air conditioned! AND, you're not inhaling pollution the entire time! Meanwhile, tuktuks are a set fee you have to negotiate - how would you ever know if you were overpaying? - and are open-air. And less safe. Eh, maybe it's one of those things you have to do once in Bangkok...though Ian tells me there are no taxis in Phnom Penh, only tuktuks, so I figure we can have our opportunity there. Well, Alex can have his; I've ridden in one before.
After that, we just hung out at the apt for the rest of the day and tried to a) cool down and b) consume our entire body weight in water. It was pretty fun. :)
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