Bangkok, Thailand - Day Three & Dubai, UAE

With today being the last day in Thailand, and with the need to leave by 4 PM for the airport, it was time to get moving early. With us that doesn't always go over so well, but we were up and ready to go by around 10. The Grand Palace and Wat Pho were the top two destinations of today, as they were both astounding views from the street. This required a walk to the Sky Train, a boat ride up to where we had been before, and we were there. Wat Pho was first, seeing as it was closer to the river.

This temple was really neat. The Buddha inside of it was gigantic, and lying down. I was amazed at the audacity of a belief to build gold statues as big as they possibly could. It was really a sight to behold. Along with a giant Buddha, it had a lot of structures that fit the region we were in. We didn't spend way too long at Wat Pho, but it was definitely worth the visit.

Up next was the Grand Palace, which required a bit of walking to make our way around the miles of wall that surrounded it. I was required to wear pants, so I had to rent clothing in order to see it. The Grand Palace was built in the 1700's when Thailand was known as Siam, and it features a mansion and a large temple, including the supposedly famous Jade Buddha. Not sure why it's famous, but it is. Understanding Buddhism would have helped a bit on this trip. But it's not like it mattered all that much. Despite the length of the wall surrounding the whole palace, it only took us around an hour and a half to see the whole thing.

After the Palace, we stopped for some food from a street vendor that would come back to haunt me, hopped on a boat taxi back down the river, and with a couple more hours to kill checked out two of Bangkok's shopping centers, Siam Paragon and MBK. Both were crowded, gawdy, and pretty much like all Western malls. So it was nothing new to see, really.

With that done, we returned to the hostel and got a taxi to the airport for our flight to Dubai. The flight itself wasn't bad, but upon arrival we discovered just how hot it is in the desert in July. NEVER GO. Along with that, we had to take a bus to the terminal (took forever) and then waited an hour for our luggage, then another 45 minutes for a cab. And it was so hot that I was a sweaty mess all the time. So gross.