1/16/03

After the long flight From L.A. to Bangkok we decided to push through our jetlag with some sightseeing around Bangkok. The Grand Palace flaunted some spectacular wats (temples) and we wandered through the complex like the little tourists we were.

We only spent one full day in Bangkok. It's a big city, really big, and we wanted to make our way up to the North where the weather and people would prove to be more hospitable.

So we flew up to Sukhothai, a small city that was home to some wonderful old temple ruins. We didn't have time for Cambodia's Angkor Wat so this was the next best thing.

This large seated Buddha was beautiful, the gold coloring on the hand is placed there by the worshipers. They press gold leaf onto images of the Buddha or revered saints and after a while the stone statues turn into gold.

After a quick day in Sukhothai, we moved on to Chiang Mai. Here we found Thai cooking courses, more wats, camera batteries, video tape stock, and some great monks to chat with.

We stocked up, gorged ourselves, and then took off for the intended destination of the trip, Soppong.