Temples in Bangkok

Today's plan was to visit two temples and the Thai Red Cross Snake Farm.  In this post is a little about the temples; the snakes will follow in a separate post.  At 8:30, we left the hotel and walked for 15 minutes to the Saphan Kwai skytrain station and took the skytrain to the Chao Phraya River, got on a river taxi, and cruised north to Pier #9, then walked 15 minutes to the gates of the Grand Palace.  We spent an hour walking through the Grand Palace (10:30-11:30), then walked 20 minutes to Wat Pho, which is famous for it's enormous reclining buddha.  After our Wat Pho visit, we retraced our steps and cruised south on the river taxi to the Saphan Thaksin skytrain station and took the skytrain to the Sala Daeng station, from which we walked for another 20 minutes to the Snake Farm.  We did a lot of walking today, but that is by design after being immobile for so long on airplanes the past two days.

Taylor, Ashley and Alexa at the Grand Palace.

Elliott and Alexa, with Brandon behind Elliott.

Brandon and Elliott posing with a half man-half poultry statue.

One of our obligatory group photos is with the students posing like the demons holding up the gold chedi.

Lots of individual photos and selfies at this part of the Grand Palace.  Here is Kaylee...

... and Kaylee taking Hli's picture

To see the emerald Buddha, shoes have to be removed and placed in racks outside the building in which the Buddha is housed.  This is the most sacred of all Buddha images in Thailand.

Sarah and Alexa remove their shoes.

Lightning struck a chedi in a temple in northern Thailand in 1434 A.D. and a Buddha statue made of stucco was found inside. The abbot of the temple noticed that the stucco on the nose had flaked off and the image inside was a green color. He then removed the stucco covering and found the Emerald Buddha, which is in reality made of one solid piece of jade.  This is the most revered Buddha image in all of Thailand.  Only the King is allowed to touch the Emerald Buddha. Photography is prohibited in the building with the emerald Buddha.  You have to shoot it from outside the building through an opening in the wall.  Hli didn't realize the restriction and had her photos of it deleted by the authorities.

Kaylee and Sera putting their shoes back on.  Somehow I don't think Sera's method would be viewed favorably by the Thai's.

Another customary group photo near the entrance to the Grand Palace.

At Wat Pho is the 150 foot long reclining Buddha.  Here are Taylor, Sera, Sarah, Ashley (back row); Zoe Alyssa, Emily, Kaylee (front row).

There are 108 bronze bowls in the corridor representing the 108 auspicious characters of Buddha. Visitors can drop coins in these bowls as it is believed to bring good fortune.  Here is Zoe trying to improve her fortune.

... and Alexa, Alyssa, and Emily.

After visiting the temples, we got back on the Skytrain to go the Red Cross Snake Farm.

Inside the Skytrain Sarah, Alyssa, Sydney, Sera, and Elliott.

... and Zoe and Brandon.