Day 1 - Bangkok, Thailand (afternoon)

In the afternoon we visited the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew. The Palace was once home to the royal family and is still the location of royal celebrations. Wat Phra Kaew was built by Rama I in the late 1700s to house the most treasured Buddha image in all of Thailand - The Emerald Buddha. The emerald Buddha is actually made of jade, not emerald, and is quite small. The Buddha wears different "clothing" depending on the season. Since we were visiting in the cool season (at a brisk 94 degrees) he was wearing his golden robe.

Our last temple stop was Wat Benjamabophit, a royal temple commissioned by Rama V (our favorite Thai restaurant in Atlanta, and also a celebrated king of Thailand known for uniting the provinces of Siam). Here we saw what else - more Buddhas. Buddha statues come in for positions: sitting, standing, walking and reclining, and the positions of the Buddhas hands symbolize different tenets of Buddhism.

At this temple, we also saw monks preparing for a New Year's celebration. Most Thai men are ordained as monks at one point of their life (our guide Maha was a monk for two years).