Early Saturday morning we hopped in the back of a minivan and went a couple hours west of Bangkok to the Amphawa floating market. We weren’t sure what to expect, but our stomachs were pleased to find a bunch of long-tail canal boats cooking freshly caught seafood on the water. We ended up making a day of it and trying various little snacks all the way up and down the canal. Some of the many fresh and cheap delicacies included tiny ice cream cones, chicken skewers, pad thai, crab fried rice, spicy clams, fried shrimp, and candied crabs. It was a happy day for our bellies! 

  
Afterwards, we jumped on one of the boats and visited five temples dotted along the river. Each one was gold, majestic, and peaceful.  We learned that the tops of the temples are brilliant gold to reflect bad luck and that the organs of monks and Buddha are kept within some of the dazzling shrines for Buddhists to pray to. 

  
The following day, Sunday, we hopped on another hot, sticky bus to head to Wat Phra Kaew and Grand palace, where the kings and queens of Thailand  lived in the past. The place was PACKED FULL of bustling tourists all bumping into each other under the baking sun, which made it quite difficult to appreciate and enjoy the beauty of the place. Fortunately, I still managed to be absolutely awestruck by the truly unbelieveable and ornate decorations of the enormous grounds. There were sculptures, temples, buildings, and Buddhas  in every shape and size covered head to toe in tiny pieces of flashy expensive material and my eyes just did not know where to look. It was a true overwhelming of the senses. So much so that we were unable to talk to each other. We merely just walked around with our jaws dropped and eyes peeled, never quite knowing what to expect around the next corner. 

   
 
In order to relax the overwhelmed senses and ease our frustration from the relentless heat, we headed straight back home for a relaxing afternoon on the rooftop infinity pool overlooking the Bangkok skyline. Ahh….lovely 🙂