Epic Water Fight!

Although there has been political unrest throughout Bangkok for the last few days, the only fights that we've been involved with are the Songkran Festival water fights. You have to stay on guard while walking around the neighborhood that our hotel is in because you are likely to get a bucket of water dumped on you very quickly. After you are sufficiently drenched, the bottles of baby powder and talcum powder come out and your face is coated in white powder. On a hot day such as it's been the last few days, the water is a welcome sight. They sure know how to cool off during the hottest month of the year. Everyone is in on the action, from the little shy Thai kids to the older folk that love to soak a foreigner.

On day 2 of the festival we decided to head out to the Grand Palace. Calling it grand is a distinct understatement. We were left completely speechless as we entered the grounds and took in the sights around us. Our first stop was the Wat that contains the Emerald Buddha. We took our shoes off and entered and we were instantly overwhelmed by the beauty and significance. Afterwards we checked out the Museum which houses the 2 changes of clothes that the Emerald Buddha has for the other seasons as well as coins, swords and jewellery that have been used by the royal family. The intricacy and splendor of the designs were unlike anything that we have every seen before.

After a quick bite to eat we took a walk and ended up at the Wat containing the Reclining Buddha. The best word to describe this Buddha is huge! It is impossible to get the entire statue in a photo as it is just too big. The feet are inlaid with a beautiful mother of pearl pattern.

Getting a taxi to get back to the hotel proved more difficult than catching a ride on the way there. Many of the cabbies refused to turn on the meter citing the festival as a reason to try to get more money out of us. We decided to walk a little ways away from the main palace grounds and eventually found a older Thai cabbie that actually agreed to turn the meter on, so off we went back to the hotel and blessed air conditioning.