Another Temple, Another Market

I set out a bit earlier today in order to miss the most intense heat. First stop was Wat Arun, or the Temple of the Dawn. I didn’t quite make it at dawn, but it didn’t open until 8:30 anyway. This is a real populist temple in that you are allowed to walk, and even climb, all over it. There are stairs that take you almost to the top. Unfortunately, you need to take these same stairs to get back down again. I stayed on the ground. Next up was Wat Pho, or the Temple of the Reclining Buddha. This is a very impressive (and at the same time, very silly) 150 ft long statue of the Buddha lying on his side. The statue is housed in a building that is not much bigger than the statue, so it is hard to find an angle in which you can take the whole thing in at one time. Kind of adds to the drama, in a way. Between wats, I came across a dried fish market. Surprisingly, dried fish smell worse than fresh fish.

The culture shock for the day came when I went to the Siam Paragon shopping center in the afternoon. This place is huge. The food court is bigger than all of Bellevue Square. It even has two McDonald’s (one at each end) to keep your walking time down. Altogether, an amazing and disorienting place.

Tomorrow morning, at 5am, I am off to Hanoi.