The flower market wasn’t like anything I’ve ever seen before. I was expecting a few stalls clustered together selling flowers. What I found however were rows and rows of stalls as far as the eye could see, selling flowers and beautiful hand crafted flower pieces.
The main types of pieces or arrangements were long yellow strands of flowers that are sewn together onto a string. There were also smaller bracelet types of flower strands that had purple, pink and white flowers. We later learned that these things are often brought to the temples and placed on the Buddha. I also say quite a few boats in the water that had the large yellow strands of flowers on them.
The flowers were very inexpensive and so beautiful, so Jessie and I thought about buying some of them and just wearing them for fun. We decided against it because we thought it may be disrespectful, as they are typically used for Buddha.
After a long walk through the flower market, Jessie and I met a very friendly Thai man. He was a teacher at a local school but was very confident in his English abilities and so he stopped for a chat. He asked what we were doing for the day and then suggested we go and see a few places.
We had been warned about people approaching us and telling us to do various things, but this man seemed harmless and even helped us find a tuk-tuk to take us from place to place. He negotiated a price of 40Bhat for the entire afternoon (that’s about $1.30 for 3 hours of driving!).
The first place our driver took us to was Wat Saket temple. Upon entry, we were told that we could not take photos, which was unfortunate because it was so beautiful. A Thai man approached us as we were walking around and was also very friendly. He was an electrician by trade but was at the temple because it was his day off. He told us some very useful information about Buddhism and Thai culture. For example, the Buddha’s long earlobes symbolize long life. His big belly symbolizes happiness. Also, there is a different pose and colour for each day of the week. It was very interesting to learn these facts especially since we would have never known them ourselves.
The next place we went to was the Thai Factory. This was a place where they make high quality suits, dresses and other clothing. They are also very proud of their quality silk products. All of the items were quite expensive for our budget but we did purchase a few things as gifts and souvenirs.
Following the factory we went to Wat Benchamabophit which was a beautiful temple set right along a small river. The grounds were immaculately kept and it was wonderful to walk around and take pictures, despite the hot weather.
Interestingly enough, as we were entering this temple, there was a woman and her two sons selling small plastic bags of turtles. She said that if you released the turtles into the river, you’d have good luck. I thought it was a neat touristy thing to do, but we declined because it wasn’t totally necessary. Also, I’m sure the turtles weren’t too pleased to be kept in those small plastic bags all day.
Jessie and I spent quite a while walking around the grounds and touring inside of the temple. The paintings, statues and atmosphere inside were amazing. Everything was so detailed and beautiful. It was really nice to see.
The last place we were dropped off was Wat Po. This was probably my favorite temple to date. Wat Po is the oldest and largest temple in Bangkok. It dates back to the 16th century and houses the country’s largest reclining Buddha, which is 46m long by 16m high. The reclining Buddha actually symbolizes the passing through to the final stage of Nirvana and the eyes and feet of the Buddha are decorated with mother of pearl. It’s beautiful.
Walking around the areas around the main temple was also a very enjoyable experience. The areas house the largest collection of Buddhas in the country. There were so many paintings and statues, it was amazing. Jessie took over 400 photos that day (a bit excessive, but there will be a lot to choose from).
Upon exiting the temple, there were many women selling thai paintings at fairly reasonable costs. Jessie and I bartered down to a fair price and we each got a print to bring home with us. My goal for this trip is to get a piece of artwork from each country I visit. Then when I have my own home it can be decorated with art from all around the world that holds meaning and memories for me.
We also found a man selling fruit on a cart. This is one of my favorite things about Thailand because the fruit is deliciously sweet, tasty, accessible and cheap. We got two bags of fruit, one mango and one pineapple. It was a great way to finish such a nice day of touring.
Once we took the river shuttle boat to our side of the river, Jessie and I realized how famished we were. Instead of going straight back to our hotel (where restaurants were limited) we decided to stay in the area, walk around the night market and find a restaurant.
The night market was pretty cool. There were stalls upon stalls selling clothes, shoes, tattoos, and animals. Jessie was tempted to shop, but our suitcases are presently busting at the seams, so she refrained.
Walking around in search of food was a bit difficult. There were many small stalls on the street serving food to locals, but we’re still a bit unsure about whether that’s foodsafe for our systems. I’m sure the sanitation levels here are much different than at home (often there’s no refrigeration or running water). We eventually found a large hotel restaurant and had pad thai and a green curry. Jessie’s curry came with a plate of rice in the shape of a teddy bear… so cute!
When we finally got home, we were both dirty and exhausted. After a nice refreshing shower, it was off to sleep.
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