Ok, peeps, prepare yourselves...this post is bursting with photos! Since it is so long, I will try to keep the words to a minimum.
We went to the Grand Palace in Bangkok. There is a strict dress code and Aaron did not have on pants, so he could not go inside with Camille and me.
Camille and I just before entering the palace. Talk about a gorgeous day, too!
These are all pictures from inside the Grand Palace. It was absolutely gorgeous. I have never seen anything else like it. All of the buildings were covered in small mosaic tiles that literally made the buildings glitter and sparkle! I promise you that my camera does not do it justice!
I love this picture! It is so beautiful and detailed!
Camille's favorite animal since she was just a little girl is an elephant! She was so excited because elephant things were everywhere in Thailand. We even got to ride elephants (those pictures are coming up) which was like a dream come true for her!
We found out that Joyce Meyer and Dino Rizzo and Healing Place Chrch were putting on a Xn conference that night! We were so excited. One of the Healing Place chrch locations is in Baton Rouge and Dino Rizzo used to speak at Camille's high school. How awesome is that? What a small world that we just happen to be half way across the world together on the very same night. Not to mention, after living in China for 5 months, a very dark place, who wouldn't want to be in a giant room full of believers celebrating the Father together! I cannot tell you how cool it was and how encouraging to see a room of a thousand Thai people wrshiping and prising together. There was so much joy in that arena. We were sitting in the cheap seats as you can see from the picture (the tickets only cost $3 in American money) sitting next to a group of deaf people, who had signers telling them what was being said. These people were dancing up a storm with more happiness and love than I have ever seen. It was a beautiful thing to witness- how much love they have for the Lrd and how the Lrd has blessed each of them! Amazing! I definitely needed to be there that night!
The next day we went on an all day tour to see the Floating Market, ride elephants, and to a Thai culture show.
Cam and I on the way to the Market.
They even sell designer handbags at the floating markets, knock-offs of course!
We took a long-tail boat (has a motor) to get to the floating market and once you get there you get in a smaller boat like this one with a Thai person who rows you up and down the market. You can stop the boat whenever you want if you want to look at the merchandise or buy something.
Thai hats.
The common souvenirs. Camille bought one of those elephant pillows!
It gets a little crowded because the waterways are narrow. These traffic jams happened pretty much the whole time we were there.
Oh you know, just the three of us boating down the floating market in Thailand! The usual!
Some boats were filled with only fruit or vegetables to sell.
They even cook on these tiny boats on the water. You can float up and buy a meal! Crazy! I was very impressed by this!
You can also get off of the boat and walk around. The floating market is covered on both sides by souvenir shops. These hats were everywhere in Thailand. They had little elephants on them and could be folded in half to make a fan! I wanted one sooo bad, but couldn't see myself ever actually wearing it!
The view from a bridge over the floating market.
Next up, Elephant Village!
Camille and I very excitedly waiting for our turn to ride an elephant!
Just beginning our trek. We got to ride for 30-40 minutes! It was awesome! Definitely one of the funnest things I have ever done in my life!
Here comes Aaron on his own elephant!
Our TOMS. I was so nervous to step on the elephant when getting on and off because I was afraid I would hurt him, but I don't think he even noticed!
Our elephant guides were the best. They got down off of the elephants and let us get out of the seats so that we could actually sit on the elephants! They even took our cameras and snapped a ton of pictures for us. We were so lucky, none of the other people got to do this!
I love these pictures because you can see our elephant raising up his trunk. I had no idea he was doing that!
Still don't realize what he is doing!
There it is! Haha I was so surprised when his trunk hit me. He let me hold on for a little while. Its actually a little uncomfortable to ride an elephant...they have rough skin and very thick rough hair and I could feel its bones moving! I did like that his ears would flap against my legs as he walked. It made methink that he was happy! haha I don't know why!
The three of us!
Going through the water!
After elephant riding, we went to a Culture Show at the Rose Garden. I really wanted to try Thai coffee because they use condensed milk and this is what they gave it to me in! I even got to keep the clay pot. Its sitting in my room in Huangshi and I still have no clue what I'm going to do with it!
Some of the women in traditional Thai clothes before the show.
I found this in the gift shop. Its a snakeskin purse with the snake skull attached! Weird! And a little gross!
We did see a short elephant show but I forgot to take pictures of that. The rest of the show was of dancing, sword fights, boxing, a model of a Thai wedding, playing Thai instruments, and more. Parts of it were very interesting. I really liked the dancing.
Camille and Aaron after the show waiting for the van to take us back to Bangkok. They were a little exhausted after a very long and eventful day!
The next day, before leaving Bangkok, we went to a mall near by where I found Madame Tussauds. If you don't know this yet, I am a super cheesy tourist and love to do all of the super cheesy tourist things. Naturally I really really REALLY wanted to go here, but it was very expensive and we didn't have a lot of time. They did let me take a picture with Britney though! We are practically BFFs, I mean we are both from Louisiana!
And finally, the whole reason we went to the mall in the first place...Krispy Kreme! We wanted one more taste of western food before leaving it all behind us! It was delicious!
Thats it for Bangkok! Next up, Koh Kood Island. Also known as paradise!
No comments:
Post a Comment