I think we walked 5000 miles...

Today is our last full day in Bangkok and I think the plan is to take it a little easier than yesterday. Basically we were on our feet walking around from 9am till 6pm, and my little clock / temp-gage said it was 34C by noon. The reason we were walking around so much was because we wanted to see a good chunk of the Wats that seemed interesting. The Grand Palace / whatever Wat (temple) was attached to it was simply breathtaking. We wandered through the currency museum first and were all kind of like, ok, this is interesting but not nothing we couldn't really see back home at an exhibit, and then we walked into the courtyard for the Wat. I think we probably snapped about 200 pictures each as we walked around. Our cameras couldn't even do it justice as our lenses simply weren't wide enough to give you any real idea of just how incredible it was. It was stuffed full of people but it didn't matter, it for sure is a must see. We also really enjoyed Wat Pho which is a giant Buddha on his side. And when I say giant think a couple hundred feet long and maybe 50 feet high. The rest of the grounds were also great because after the Buddha no one else seemed to be around. Everyone it seemed to go for their one snap shot 'seen-it' picture and then got back on their bus. This meant we could pretty much check out all of the other cool temples and architecture by ourselves and really just take it in. I think we are going to try and stay on the self guided tour as much as possible for this trip.

After we left Wat Pho we got suckered by our first scam. We wanted to jump across the water another Wat but were told that it was closed for a 2 hours for a religious ceremony. Now everyone of us had read that this was almost always a scam but the guy that came and talked to us did so for about 20 minutes talking about culture, and Canada and everything else under the sun. He also claimed to be going to work and was just walking down the street. There is some debate amongst the guys as to whether this is where the scam occurred or what followed, but I feel like we were suckered from the start. The guy brought over a couple of tuk tuks and got us a deal of 10 baht each for a ride to other temples. Now this was way cheaper than we had seen before so it seemed ok. We had been somewhat warned about tuk tuks but it we figured it was something to be experienced once so we jumped on. We were sure right about the experience, the tuk tuks are crazy. For those that don't know tuk tuks are kind of like motorized rickshaws that just fly around the city in and out of traffic. It is like being on a car amusement park ride without the safety regulations. Still, it was super fun to be blasting around the city with the wind in your hair when it is smoking hot. Anyway, we got to the first temple fine and had a great little chat with a local guy (we think this guys was legit) for about half an hour. He tried to teach us a bit of Thai and talked to us about the culture and the city. After that we jumped back on the tuk tuk and they took us to a clothing place where they the tuk tuk drivers get free gas in exchange for bringing customers. Apparently we didn't stay in it long because the driver had to take us to 2 other ones before he finally took us to the second Wat we wanted to see. After this though we had had enough and simple jumped off and paid the drivers the 10 baht each and walked off. So did we really get scammed? Well we figure we got a pretty decent view of the city for 2 hours when it was super hot out and we were tired of walking for about 30 cents each. So at least in that respect it seems we came out on top as the tuk tuk drivers probably spent more than that on gas.

Another random event from yesterday, we ran into someone we knew. Well, it wasn't someone I knew, odd I know, but someone the rest of the guys did. Devon, a friend of Anthony's girlfriend spotted us while we were walking around at the Grand Palace. So once again it's proved that even half way around the world you can't get away from people you know. Maybe we are all just too damn popular.

I think that's about all I've got for today, I think we want to jump out on the river and take in some of the city from that side. I'm going to see if I can upload and youtube some of the videos Anthony has taken with his camera as well as some more pics, so once again I'd say check out the blog at traveldom.blogspot.com

Oh PS - Thai foot massages, so so so good after a full day of walking.