While Thailand did not prove to be a cat mecca like Jordan, we still came across a few cute kitties. Like these two little ones:

They visited us at our bungalow on Koh Phi Phi. The night before a mouse was running up and down the walls and over Mike’s feet so we joked that the Mouse Patrol had arrived! We laughed even harder when the kitties entered our room and started inspecting the place.

Later, to my delight, they followed us several yards down the path.

Last summer while home I picked up a disposable underwater camera. I threw it in my bag and brought it to Thailand. I had a hunch there would be a few opportuntieis to use it. You’ll just have to trust me that the colors were much more vibrant in real life.

xo, jill

The rest of our time in Bangkok was spent eating, seeing the Hunger Games and a little muy thai, meeting up with Molly and spending too much time on Khao San Road. We even booked a trip to a floating market…and then decided to sleep in a few extra hours instead.

Then we headed back to Abu Dhabi.

So close to being done posting about this trip.

xo, jill

You know how when you’re exhausted something that’s a little bit funny can seem incredibly hilarious? That seems to happen a lot while traveling.

Mike and I had a really good laugh over these statues at Wat Pho.

Everyone’s struggling to hold up the pillar.

And then there’s this guy:

Funny, but not that funny.

Do you have a similar story?

xo, jill

When we were trying to decide what to do in Bangkok, Mike kept asking me if I’d been to the temple with the reclining Buddha. I kept replying, “Maybe. I can’t remember.” Thailand has A LOT of temples. It’s hard to keep them all separate in your mind.

Mike felt pretty certain that if I’d been to Wat Pho, I would remember. We headed over there to check it out. He was right. This temple is not easily forgotten. First, it’s huge (80,000 sq meters). Second, there’s a giant indoor reclining Buddha (43 meters long).

The rest of the temple was lovely as well. We did our best to explore shady parts of the temple. It was a hot day. So hot that the temple was kindly giving out free water to visitors.

I have to say, I was not excited to return to Bangkok. Mike and I had both already explored the major sites in the city on previous trips.  What were we going to do with two and a half days? I was beginning to feel tired and not really in the mood to navigate a loud and bustling city, which made it difficult to want to leave the hostel. But since you can’t squander travel opportunities, we ventured out on a walk.

That’s how we came to visit Wat Traimit, home of the Golden Buddha.

 

The Golden Buddha is believed to have been made in the 13th or 14th centuries. At some point in time, the statue was covered in plaster to disguise it from raiding enemies. Unfortunately, the disguise was a little too good. For approximately 200 years the true value of the statue was forgotten. It was only in 1954 when the statue was accidentally dropped that the inner golden Buddha was discovered. What a nice surprise.

I suppose it’s a little like when you hide your Christmas presents just a little too well… and discover them the following year…except a lot more exciting.

xo, jill