Thai New Year (Songkran Festival).

Unlike last year, when we were surprised by the Songkran Festival in Kowloon City, this year we were prepared. We purchased hefty water guns for the kids and three bottles of baby powder to share with strangers and other festival goers. We watched the parade through the streets and participated in the water throwing and baby powder face painting!!!

Songkran Festival is the traditional Thai New Year and since Kowloon City is known as Little Thailand in Hong Kong, the festival was held in this particular area on a Sunday afternoon.

Bangkok Sights.

Remember that {crazy tuk-tuk driver} that wanted my husband to purchase a custom made suit so he could get a free tank of gas? Well, some of the agreed upon sights that our tuk-tuk driver took us to, and which basically boiled down to us just driving past them and not getting out to actually investigate them, are pictured here.

There was the Democracy Monument which is in the middle of a traffic circle, and where protests for prodemocracy were once held. It is also a monument to remember those who have died during violent times in Thailand.

We drove past the Sao Ching Cha, or Giant Swing, is another religious structure which represents the earth and the seas. The current location of the Sao Ching Cha is not the original location. It was moved and is now made out of six teak wood tree trunks. 

We did stop off at this temple which housed a white Buddha. The grounds were smaller than the grounds we walked through at Wat Pho, and for us, temples start to blend together and begin to look the same after we've visited several of them. At this particular temple, a lady walked through with a woven basket and handed our kids a hard boiled egg. We weren't sure what we were supposed to do with it, and since we weren't sure whether or not it was blessed as an offering for Buddha we did nothing with them.

The final temple that we toured in Bangkok, was the Wat Benchamabophit, also known as the Marble Wat. The temple was originally built and designed for a prince, and the courtyards are made of marble.

While we were walking through the temple, a ceremonial parade passed us through the marble hall. We trailed behind, not knowing what was happening. There were people dressed in their best clothing and carrying sacred objects. The monk was dressed in white instead of the familiar orange robes. Large ornamental umbrellas were used to shield the monk and other significant sacred objects.

After the short processional, the monk dressed in white, stood on the front steps of the temple, and what appeared to be body guards kept bystanders from pushing up on him and crowding him. Every now and then someone from the processional would burst into a controlled yell. 

After a few minutes of standing at the entrance to the temple doors, a large crowd was also gathered. We stood towards the back to see what would happen. All of a sudden, the monk started throwing colorful objects into the air. The crowd started going wild, grasping for the objects as they fell to the ground. People were pushing other people out of the way so that they could get as many of the objects that were thrown.

Some of the objects fell close enough to our family, and the kids were able to pick a few. The objects turned out to be ribbon intricately wrapped up into the shape of fruit and inside each piece there was one coin with differing amounts in each one.

Nothing Beats Street Food.

My {best friend} who lived in Thailand for a year, recommended we eat from as many street vendors as possible. We took her advice to heart and ate from food markets and stalls set up by the road. We experienced our best eating when we ate street food. It was fun to try new things and to sample what looked good to us. 

Khaosan Road.

By sheer coincidence we ended up on Khaosan Road, which is known as the backpacker's haven in Thailand. Just like the sign at the entrance of the road advertised, this street was the place to have a good time and to relax.

Our family was excited to see a shop that also offered fish spa pedicures. We all purchased a twenty minute package, and put our feet in the water. Twenty minutes was plenty of time to let the fish eat the dead skin from our feet. We were aware of the sanitary issues and still chose to enjoy the experience. It was hard for my husband and daughter to keep their feet in the water, since they both have very ticklish feet. My son and I were able to enjoy the experience a little more, and after a bit you become accustomed to the nibbling.

Our Crazy Tuk-Tuk Driver.

We were walking toward the Grand Palace when a man dressed in what looked to be an official guard uniform came running toward our family and told us we could not tour the palace because there was a ceremony going on for the monks. He then told us a tuk-tuk driver would take us around Bangkok and show us tourist sights for fifty baht. Ridiculously cheap.

We told him ok, and naively climbed into the tuk-tuk. However, our ride turned into us having to go into custom tailor shops to listen to salesmen try to talk my husband into buying a custom made suit. Taking into consideration that he wears a suit just a couple times a year, the fabric was made in China, and we would not be in Thailand long enough for it to be delivered to our guesthouse, we weren't interested.

Unfortunately, we left an angry tuk-tuk driver at the end of the day when we were not successful in collecting the correct amount of business cards he needed for his free tank of gas. Instead we paid him the agreed upon amount for taking us around Bangkok, and left him in search of lunch.

River Riding.

From Wat Pho, we meandered through streets targeting tourists on our way over to the Chao Phraya River, where we took a ferry ride to the other side. The ferry ride was just a couple baht and the destination for the trip was short and directly opposite of our departing dock. The river was busy with a lot of traffic, many tours and privately hired boat taxi's taking people up and down the river. 

Our two children enjoyed the opportunity to sit down and rest their short legs. A day of walking in heat and humidity can easily tire out kids {and Mama's too for that matter}. As we disembarked, we headed over to the Temple of the Rising Sun {also known as Wat Arun}.

As soon as we saw the construction scaffolding surrounding the temple, we knew we probably would not pay the entrance fee to walk through it and explore the temple grounds. After the short ride from one side of the river bank to the other, we walked around the public grounds surrounding the temple wall. 

There were many tourists, like us, who were just milling around. One tourist temple compared to the previous tourist temple spot started to blur together, and things started to look the same. After just ten minutes of walking the area, we decided to head back to the ferry to the side where the Grande Palace was residing. 

Wat Pho - The Reclining Buddha.

We hired a driver to take us from the guesthouse we were staying at into the city so he could drop us off in the general area of Wat Pho, the Grand Palace, and the Chao Phraya river. Our first stop was to explore The Temple of the Reclining Buddha - or Wat Pho as it's known in Thailand. The area was full of tourists. Many times when were out sight seeing in Chaiyaphum, I would easily pass for a local Thai and therefore get a considerable discount on the price of admission. However, in Bangkok, we did not feel comfortable doing deceiving people, so we always paid full price. Had I been a local, I could have entered the temple for free. 

As we entered the temple that The Reclining Buddha was dwelling in, we all removed our shoes so that we could view the statue that lies a little over one hundred and fifty feet in length. All of us visitors, filed through the temple in a single line, pausing to take pictures of the buddha that was laying down. On the backside of the buddha, people were saying prayers and dropping coins into copper bowls while they prayed. 

The temple grounds are impressive, with the two compounds and numerous chedis. We walked through the grounds and saw the spot they say Thai massage originated from. Since there is a school for the monks on one of the campus' we saw plenty of men in orange robes walking the premises.

The sun was hot and humidity levels were high, but with our tourist tickets, we were able to cash in for a free bottle of cold water. Cold water in Asia is never taken for granted, as many times we are served warm or lukewarm water.