A Palace, Lots of Temples, oh my!

Today was an important buildings day! We woke up and took the sky train and then a taxi to get to the Grand Palace. This was the residence of the King in the past but isn't anymore so it's just used for events. While I knew we were going to temples and such and I brought modest clothing for the temples and for Egypt, I had a complete brain fart this morning when I was getting dressed. I was in shorts and a tank top and when we got to the palace we realized that was a major no no.  This is the case for a ton of tourists though since it's super hot so there are a million vendors selling pants and other coverings to make the palace accessible. By the time we found out that we were inappropriately dressed, we were already away from the vendors but luckily (or maybe unluckily) we found out the Palace offers clothes to borrow for free. Now that's nice and all but they don't exactly have a sense of fashion. Will had to borrow some baggy pants which didn't look too bad and I had to wear this wrap skirt that was actually quite pretty.  But this shirt!! Oy! I know I'm a pretty sight!  There was so much extra fabric that my skirt was wrapped twice and I was sweating pretty bad under the weird school uniform shirt I had on. 

It was crowded! Like seriously, so crowded that there was a lot of skin to skin contact.  I suppose I was glad I had that extra clothing to absorb other people's sweat. We didn't stay at the Palace too long because it was way too crowded and reminded me a lot of the Forbidden City.  Lots of buildings that all start to look the same.  Plus the Jade Buddha was closed because they were changing his outfit?!?

Day 2: Snake Farm and Cooking School?!

This morning we woke up refreshed from a deep night's sleep and enjoyed breakfast at our hotel. I actually love free breakfasts at hotels because it is always funny to me what foreign countries consider "breakfast."  Nothing was too funky at this one except maybe this pasta looking thing but it was nice having such a beautiful fruit selection like passion fruit and papaya. 

Anyways, we made our way to the Snake Farm at the Red Cross Society. Since Thailand has so many venomous snakes, snake bites had been a public health issue. So, they created this snake farm (second in the world after one in Brazil) in order to create anti-venoms.

We went with the plans to see a venom extraction but since it was a holiday (Buddhist holiday lasting 2 days) they weren't having one today. Instead, we got to see the snake meet and greet which actually ended up being awesome. They brought out a bunch of snakes, most of which were venomous and it was awesome seeing the Cobras up at attention!  The snake handlers didn't even flinch which surprised me since we definitely saw evidence of snake bite scarring on one guy's hand! Yikes!! In the end, they even let us take pictures with one of the pythons, which are totally friendly and safe. It was fun and informative!

They even had this cool exhibit that taught me all about snakes like the difference between boys and girls, how they reproduce, and of course, snake bite prevention. There was a model of what can happen to you if you aren't treated from a venomous snake bite. Wow!! Watch out! 

The longest day ever: Day 1 in Bangkok

Will and I hate long flights. I take that back.  I don't hate them like Will does but spending 20+ hours in one spot definitely sucks especially when you're short like me and your feet don't touch the floor.  I don't mind watching movies or reading books but every once in a while even I get a little stir crazy and I consider myself a pretty patient person.  Our flight left Dulles today (or yesterday since its been forever ago) at 10pm with a 13 hour flight to Dubai where we had a quick hour layover before another 7.5 hour flight to Bangkok. I must say that both flights went as smoothly as possible and I couldn't believe I slept for about 9 hours straight (pretty much) during the first leg to Dubai. However, as much as the sleeping helped pass the time for the first flight, I was wide awake on the next flight from Dubai to Bangkok. It kept me right on my normal sleep schedule which made getting to Bangkok quite the adjustment. 

When we landed in Bangkok, it was super early but we grabbed a cab and experienced the ridiculous traffic the city is notorious for.  Also, they drive in between lanes and in shoulders on the regulars. Yes, it is that bad. Seriously.  By the time made it to our hotel it was around 8:30am. Our hotel welcomed us with welcome drinks and this funny sign.   

Way too early to check in, most places weren't open yet and we both knew we'd be getting tired soon. However, we knew we just had to stick it out for the longest day ever to put us on Bangkok time and set us on the right timeframe for the rest of the trip. After leaving our luggage with the hotel, we made our way to Central Embassy/ Siam Square/Paragon Mall via sky train. It is an area of malls that are interconnected that have super high end luxury stores.  However, we weren't there for the shopping, we were there for Eathai. Many of you may know about Eataly (Italian food stalls/coolest grocery store ever by Mario Bitalli) in NYC and Chicago.  Well this is their Thai cousin.  We weren't allowed to take pictures of the general area or store but we got some yummy eats!