The End of Bangkok

We've moved on from the city of Bangkok, but our last days there were quite full. While exploring, we made our way to the Grand Palace. There's a very strict dress code for the palace...

We didnt know we'd get to the palace that day so we hadn't dressed the part. Not that we would have wanted to, it's super hot here (high 80's and 90's) and yet plenty of locals walk around in long sleeves and pants! Anywho, the Grand Palace thinks ahead. They have it set up so you can "rent" appropriate attire for free. Here's the swag I had to wear

And David just had to put on a pair of comfy pants.

I guess the king of Thailand only uses the buildings at the Grand Palace for some special ceremonies every now and then. It's strange to think all of this is largely unused now...

It's all so ornate!

Getting around in the city has been super easy. We've managed to walk a lot of places and there is so much public transportation. Taxi's are pretty unexciting, but Thailand also has Tuk Tuks. It's a cross between a taxi and a go-cart. It's really like a motorized tricycle with room for 3-4 passengers.

This really isn't an accurate depiction of one though because the driver is usually out on the street hassling people to take a ride.

They cruise around the streets at alarming speeds and dodge in and out of traffic. 

Bangkok traffic is something else. Seriously, road lanes are merely a suggestion - even on the freeway! Half the time your driver will be cruising in between two lanes. And motorcycles just go where ever they please and where ever they fit. 

We took a day trip to see the sights of Ayutthaya. It's a city about an hour-ish outside of Bangkok with loads of temples and religious significance (if you're Buddhist, which about 95% of Thailand is). At one point it was the capital of Thailand but now it is mostly old temples and ruins of old temples. 

We hit up 5 sites and sadly they all started to blend together quite a bit but it was still a ton of fun. 

The stairs to the temples were all kinds of wonky.

They were a little daunting to climb at times.

There was such a diverse group of people on our tour. Germany, Korea, France, China, and Japan were all represented, and the crazy common denominator? They all spoke English very very well. Makes me feel pretty lazy and unworldly because I don't recall much of MY foreign language - Spanish. 

We also took a little trip to Chinatown where David had the best pad Thai of our trip so far (he has currently had 6 variations!).

And lastly, we have fully taken advantage of the inexpensive spa services here. We've each had two foot massages and one traditional Thai massage. Each was only $4 for 30 minutes!! We definitely plan on more massages. David tried a "Fish Spa" (I opted out due to me being a scaredy cat)

So weird. He says it's kinda ticklish and it feels like when your foot is asleep, tingling back to life.

Yesterday we made our way to Chiang Mai (up in Northern Thailand) but I will write about those adventures on my next post... this baby is gettin' long! 

..and it feels like nap time.