Wat Pho, the Grand Palace and Dinner Theater

We had a relatively leisurely morning, not having to leave the hotel until 9 - trying to avoid some of the morning traffic.  Once we hit the road - it was off to Wat Pho - also known as the Temple of the Reclining Buddha (a bronze Buddha that is 150 feet long!!!).  This temple is was built by King Rama I and was built on a previous temple site and became his main temple and houses some of his remains. It also has the largest collection of Buddha images and statues in Thailand.  Many were brought to this temple from other places.  It is also considered the first place for public education in Thailand and the birthplace of traditional Thai massage which is still taught at the temple today.  It also houses a school of medicine. There are 91 chedis (a Thai stupa) and 4 grand chedis in the complex. The 4 grand chedis are for the first 4 Chakri kings Rama I, II, III and IV.

While we were in the Phra Ubosot, our guide, Pom, taught us how the Buddhists pray and what they pray for - and again we talked about karma and their belief in reincarnation. 

From there it was off to the Grand Palace, the official residence of the Kings of Siam and Thailand since 1782, although the current king lives in a different palace now.

There are many different buildings on the grounds of the Grand Palace, including the temple of the Emerald Buddha - which isn't emerald at all - it is made from jade.  The whole palace grounds are very ornate and show many different types of architecture owing to the different influences as it was being built over many, many years.  We finished off our tour of the palace with watching the changing of the guards (at least at one spot - there are 10 guard stands throughout the complex.  They change the guards every 2 hours and we were lucky enough to be at one of the guard posts right at the changing.

We had lunch at on the river front and then made our way to a local mall to see how they shop here.  It was a mixture of what we think of as a market and a regular mall - where bargaining for a price is customary.  I couldn't help but think about doing this at one of our malls.  I don't think they would go for it.

Then it was back to the hotel for some down time and getting organized for tomorrow - an early departure and then the night train - so we are packing a day bag to have for the train and the day after.

Dinner was at a dinner theater where we enjoyed some traditional Thai dancing during dinner and then back to the hotel where everyone should be catching some z's for tomorrow.