Day 2 in Thailand!

Day 2 in Thailand, we had a 5:30am wake up call! It was very early, especially after not sleeping for 36 hours! My bed was amazingly comfortable once I got to bed so waking up was difficult! Once up I got ready, and headed down to breakfast with Mary.  We were able to sit outside for breakfast, we had a great view of the river and the temperature was perfect! 

Then by 7:15 we were on the bus and ready to go to the floating market! During our 60 mile drive to the market we learned about many things in Thailand! We learned that there is a monkey university! Where owners send monkeys to learn to pick coconuts! Once they are trained then they are sent to work, monkeys can earn one baht per coconut they pick! We learned that all the small houses in each lot is a spirit house. The spirit house is for the spirits  of the land they built the house on! We also passed by some prawn farms.

 We also saw a market that was run on train tracks! And when a train comes they all move,  once the train passes the market is reestablished! It is dangerous! 

We stopped at a salt farm on the side of the road, they flood the area, put a plastic sheet down, or they send it away to be refined. It was very cool to see them working on raking the salt.

Then we took a river boat that, holds six people, to the floating market. The market was very big and had a lot of items! Once we got off the boat we got to walk around the market and bargain for any item we wanted to buy! Nicole, Mary and I bargained for 4 elephant wall hangers, they were originally 400 baht a wall hanger but Nicole bargained her down to 700 baht for all four! It was nerve racking trying not to pay too much and to not feel like you are insulting them by offering a low amount. Then Ashley, Mary and I bargained for wraps! We got 3 for 900 baht, which is about $9. Then we tried fried bananas, they 

were tasty. 

Then we ventured onward! We stopped at the worlds oldest pagoda at 1800 years old! It was beautiful!  The Buddha represented a teaching Buddha. People were there paying respect. They payed respect with in-scents and lotus flowers and a donation. The lotus flower represents respect for a monk. 

Onward we went again, this time to lunch at the Royal Hotel. We had a wonderful buffet, I had spicy fish, some rice and a pancake. The pancake is a thin layer of egg that is cooked and it had sprouts, peanuts, prawn and some sort of squash in it. After lunch we then ventured to the Grande Palace.

The Grande Palace was extremely large. It was established in 1782. It has royal residence halls, throne halls and government offices. The Temple of the Emerald Buddha is located there as well. There are a lot of temples on the grounds all built by royal kings. The place was vast and stunning, the details on each temple were unbelievable. 

Then went ventured on a boat to the Temple of Dawn. While on our way to the temple we stopped to feed the catfish. It was cool to see the catfish trying to eat the bread we feed them. We traveled along the Chawphaya River and the Bangkoknoi Canal. The Temple of Dawn was extremely steep! I was a bit scared once I got to the top, only because the stairs to go down we're frighting! Then we got back on the boat and traveled to the pier to get on our bus to catch the train! 

We almost missed our train! We got there with about 5 minutes to spare! The car we our in is a sleeper car. It is a bit old and unique. I am writing this as I am on it! It should be a 10 hour train ride to Chiang Mai!!!  We will get there in the morning!