Spring Breakin' Thailand Part 2

A FEW OF THE SIGHTS

Wat Traimit (Temple of the Golden Buddha) in Bangkok might not rate a second glance if not for its astonishing Buddha image.

This is considered sacred ground so we removed our shoes to enter the temple. The outside as well as the inside were immaculate and beautiful, not overly ornate.

We also learned that all Buddhist men in Thailand are asked to spend a couple of years of their lives as monks. This is different from other places in Asia where once they become a monk they remain so their entire lives.

Wat Traimit is thought to date from the 13th century. The Golden Buddha image is about 900 years old and is cast in the Sukhothai style. It is believed to have been brought first to Ayutthaya.

When the Burmese were about to sack the city, it was covered in plaster to hide its value. Two centuries later, still in plaster, it was thought to be worth very little.

But in 1957, when the image was being moved to a new temple in Bangkok, it slipped from a crane and was left in the mud by workmen.

In the morning, a temple monk, who had dreamed that the statue was divinely inspired, went to see the Buddha image. Through a crack in the plaster he saw a glint of yellow, and discovered that the statue was pure gold.

The graceful seated Buddha is the worlds largest at nearly 10 feet high and weighs over 5 tons.
That means it's about a bazillion dollars! I am sure it is well protected but the only thing I saw the one security guard do was make sure we entered on the left staircase and exited on the right.

Wat Pho (วัดโพธิ์), or Wat Phra Chetuphon (วัดพระเชตุพน)
is mainly famous for the huge Reclining Buddha statue it houses. At 20 acres large, it is the largest Wat in Bangkok, and is technically the oldest too, as it was built around 200 years before Bangkok became Thailand's capital. However, today the Wat today bears virtually no resemblance to that originally constructed, as it was almost entirely rebuilt by Rama I when the capital was moved to Bangkok.

The highly impressive gold plated reclining Buddha is 46 meters long and 15 meters high, and is designed to illustrate the passing of the Buddha into nirvana. The feet and the eyes are engraved with mother-of-pearl decoration, and the feet also show the 108 auspicious characteristics of the true Buddha.

Zach did not want to pose for pictures here.

We also saw, as the sign says, The Best Public Toilet of The Year!
I do agree they were very clean for public toilets.

ANIMAL ANTICS
It was amazing how such tiny bananas brought so much joy.....

...to the children that sold them...

...to the kids who gave them away....

.....and to the elephants who received them.

Although we didn't have time to see the amazing Nong Nuch Tropical Garden we did see some beautiful traditional dancing, a kick boxing show, and a demonstration of how elephants were used in war.

Then on to a spectacular ELEPHANT show. Our family was treated to front row seats. We got to see them play soccer, basketball, throw darts, and ride tricycles among other things.

We also got more opportunities to feed the performing pachyderms. They were very picky if a banana fell on the ground and you picked it up to try and feed it to them they would refuse it. I guess they are so well fed they can afford to be choosy.

At Safari World my silliest monkey just had to pose with this orangutan. Unfortunately we missed the orangutan boxing show. I hear it's PETA's worst nightmare. How rude to but boxing gloves on them and make them pretend to fight. They don't like the attention at all. We really didn't need our monkey to learn any new moves anyway.

One of the best parts of the day was feeding the giraffes.

These guys were GREEDY! Some of the smaller ones could hardly get anything. So, I would lead the big guys away with a banana and have Z or E rush in and give something to a smaller guy who was so excited that his head just barely made it to the platform feeding level.

Here Ethan was really scolding this one for taking a banana not intended for him.

So the giraffe licked his head to tell him what he thought about it.
EEEEWWWW giraffe slobber!

We relaxed a bit and took in some shows.

First a Sea Lion which was good even Graham enjoyed it and then later a dolphin show that wasn't that impressive.

Ethan was completely gobbed stopped at the next show. It was a cowboy stunt show and he couldn't believe his eyes. He refused to believe us when we said it was all an act.
After the show he grabbed my camera and saying, "Mom I gotta take some pictures. I want to remember everything about this." It was definitely a highlight of the trip for both he and Zach.

One last surprise!
Oh how refreshing to be caught by the spray from this lactating statue;)

The boys weren't the least bit afraid to hold this baby tiger.

I think all in all this morning was the second most fun for the boys after the beach morning. To exit the park you must drive through the animal preserve. You get to see all rhinos, lions, tigers, bears, camels, the giraffes, and many others all up close.

One last bit we wanted to share was a short video I took not knowing what would happen but ended up being a classic.

We knew elephants liked nuts but not this much. Oh the poor unsuspecting audience participants.

Next Up My Favorite
The Open Markets!