Wat, you say?

We arrived in Bangkok late in the evening three days after the Presidential election. After navigating the chaotic airport, we hopped a taxi to the backpacker district of town, Banglampu. Our cabbie asked where we were from, and when we said USA, he immediate livened up and said, "Go Obama!" This was a theme throughout our trip. Everyone where we went seemed genuinely glad for us. We were glad too. This meant that we didn't have to buy Canadian patches and sew them on our backpacks.

Bangkok is cool enough for a booming metropolis. With a population of only 6.5 million, the city chaos, for us, at least, seemed to rival that of Mexico City, population 18 million. The city highways seem to have a MINIMUM of 8 lanes of traffic, little to no sidewalks or crossings, and additional imaginary motorcycle lanes. Not to mention, Thais drive on the left. We had a few close calls looking the wrong way for oncoming traffic. This photo is of Democracy Monument, a traffic circle not far from the Grand Palace. Ironically enough, the monument was commissioned by the King of Thailand, Rama the [insert some number here]th in the 1940s and built by Mussolini's architect.

In this picture, there appears to be a momentary pause in traffic. Don't let it fool you. Traffic here is a total disaster.

From here, we walked to the Grand Palace and Temple of the Emerald Buddha, two of Bangkok's most famous attractions. The grounds and buildings here are incredibly oranate and busy, each king adding his individual touch. Here are a few highlights of the grounds of this Wat (temple):

Take note of the tuk-tuk here. It's the ubiquitous symbol of Thailand.

A scene of the story of Rama (Ramayana)

(A shout-out to Dan Snead.)

Finally, here are a couple of the Wat itself. The Temple of the Emerald Buddha actually houses a jade buddha thought initially to be made of emerald. The King himself changes the dress of the buddha for the changing of the seasons: hot, rainy, and dry.

Some dumb tourists blessing themselves with the lotus flower.

And finally the Emerald Buddha itself. No photography allowed. Sorry for the blurriness.