On a mission to capture all of the beauty of Wat Pho and The Grand Palace after Anne's camera became 'exhausted' just before we saw the reclining Buddha a couple of days ago, we set off early, this time with an actual clue about where to go and how to get in.
We joined the throngs of tourists and school groups visiting the Grand Palace, having made sure we were appropriately dressed for the occasion (shoulders and knees covered, no bare feet). Having congratulated ourselves on making it to the Grand Palace in record time, we decided that the 500baht entrance fee was abut rich for us and our tiny budgets, and headed back to Wat Pho for a much more reasonable 100 baht.
During this visit, we each paid the 20baht donation to then put coins in each of the 108 alms bowls. This is an auspicious number, there are also 108 images on the feet of the reclining Buddha made of inlaid mother of pearl. According to a quick Google, placing the offerings in the alms bowls is said to be good luck, especially if you have any coins left over at the end- as did Anne- I ran short a couple of bowls from the end..... I'm sure it doesn't mean anything bad, right?
Anyway, while placing the coins in the alms bowls, I took the opportunity to think about a new goal - smile first. I've become increasingly aware that I get worked up pretty easily and am trying to develop the habit of 'smile first', replacing my instinct of becoming confrontational. Whenever I am confrontational, I feel really upset with myself as its not the kind of person I want to be. After the situation has passed, I am generally able to see where I went wrong in my reaction , and how I could have reacted in a more helpful and pleasant way. I'm hoping that by focusing on 'smile first' I will be able to replace that defensive, confrontational instinct when dealing with stressful situations. If I can just keep my mouth shut long enough to allow myself to consider the most reasonable way to handle these situations, I really feel that I will be happier and prouder of myself as a person.
Getting back to what we did yesterday~
After we had finished our second visit to Wat Pho, we ventured to the river, Chao Praya? , and paid the 3baht to cross the river to Wat Arun. Like Wat Pho, it was very detailed and beautiful. The style was a little different, with less of the colorful ceramics we had seen at Wat Pho. Unfortunately, it also hasn't been kept up as well as the other temples in the area. We were nonetheless glad to see it, and climbed the very steep steps in order to experience the views of Bangkok from higher up the temple. (Going back down was a lot less fun!)
After traipsing around the temples, we headed back for an afternoon nap ( yep, we really did!) then headed down to the street to check out the stalls and have some cheap dinner- padthai for 30 baht ($1), followed by a delicious banana and Nutella pancake for 40 baht!
The temples have been lovely to see again, and our hotel has been great (I loved the rooftop pool) but I'm glad to be getting out of Bangkok and heading to Chiang Mai tonight!
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