A river tour through Bangkok...

For my second day in Bangkok, I ventured out early in the morning to the western side of the city, near the Royal Palace and the majority of the temples. I took a Venice-style gondola up the major river that runs through the city to get an overall sense of the area. There is ~1 buddhist temple every ¼ mile or so. You can also see the backside of the Royal Palace, which I visited later in the day. I stepped off the boat for about ~20 minutes to explore the major destination – i.e. the Temple of Dawn. While on ground, I poked my head in a Buddhist praying session, and witnessed some of the most detailed architecture I had ever seen.

In a few of the photos, you also see some very modern buildings, surrounded by near third-world accomodations. This dichotomy is evident everywhere in Thailand. It stems from the fact that Thailand has only truly opened its borders to foreign investment in the last 20 years, and this has resulted in some impressive buildings and skyscrapers. However, scattered in between, you still have the Thai culture continuing as they have always known it – simple and meager. It provides for a visibly distinct separation.




The temple of dawn



...taking a closer look

While visitng the sites, there were a number of large fish feasting on some bread that I had thrown overboard -- the driver of the boat was thoroughly entertained.

Poking my head in a buddhist temple...