#13) Taking on Thailand

After the craziness and stress of traveling India for two months heading into Thailand was a welcomed and relaxing change. I landed in Bangkok - a sprawling, cosmopolitan city of over 14 million people - and you'd think I'd find a city like this quite overwhelming but it was truly a piece of cake after India. The city itself and the major landmarks were easy to navigate through the system of trains, buses and canal routes and I had a great time just "getting lost" in the city and seeing what there was to discover among the many streets and alleys. Thailand was a great backpacking destination - sights are aplenty, transportation is easy, food is amazingly delicious, and the best part is how cheap it is! Check out all the pictures from the first few weeks on my time in Thailand and look for Part #2 to come soon!

I'd take trains, buses, ferries, cable cars, rickshaws, etc to get around various cities so far in my trip, but I hadn't get taken a canal boat - it was actually a really convenient and fun way to get around.

The Democracy Monument - a giant landmark which was next to the guesthouse where I was staying. Politics in Thailand is very complicated and difficult to understand and unfortunately I didn't gain a ton of insight while I was there - it's best not to talk politics with strangers, no? Thailand technically still has a monarch (which they absolutely adore), but they also have a democratic system which has been sporadically interrupted by military dictatorships throughout it's history - the most recent of which was in March 2014.

Puppies - in a box! I stumbled upon these little guys in a street market which sold Buddhist religious bobbles and trinkets while I was on my way to find a remedy for the cough I was struggling to get over. They were so adorable.

The Grand Palace - the official residence of the King of Thailand. The parts visible above the wall comprise the Temple of the Emerald Buddha (or Wat Phra Kaew) complex . I should have taken the big tour bus on the left as a foreshadowing of what was to come - but I was naive.

Some mounted guards posted outside of the main entrance - just before they posted here they were traipsing down the sidewalk in front of me. I think maybe more for show rather than actual security - still I wouldn't want to be on the wrong side of that horse.

This was the tourist mob that I encountered when I finally entered the Grand Palace - it was madness I tell you. I don't mind doing "touristy" things because if you really boil it down that's kinda what I am - but I do not deal well with giants crowds of people being pushy and only caring about their personal satisfaction. I've also never seen so many selfie-sticks in my life.

Despite the crowd there was some really interesting and beautiful things to see within the Palace itself - especially the architectural details.

I was especially a fan of these bird/man hybrid statues that were all over the palace grounds - I assume that they have some religious or cultural importance but I don't know the exact meaning.

More cool statues.

The outer walls of the temple complex were decorated with beautiful mural paintings from floor to ceiling - they were scenes from the Thai version of the Hindu epic Ramayana - called the Ramakien. I attempted reading an abridged version of Ramayana while I was in India and even though I didn't end up finishing it I know the basic premise of the story. The sitting, green-faced figure clutching the boy is the story's main character - Rama. I especially liked the gold details on the figures - really beautiful

I don't remember this particular part of the story - but I loved the big King Kong-esque beast. Raaawwwwwr.

This is the "main" temple of the Wat Phra Kaew complex - which housed the Emerald Buddha. We weren't allowed to take pictures within the temple itself , but there was a little window on the exterior from which you could see the statue from outside. 

The Emerald Buddha - a misnomer because the statue itself is really made of green jasper and not emerald. The statue is adorned entirely in gold garb and there are three separate outfits which are changed by the King of Thailand according to the season - summer, winter, and rainy seasons. Here it is serving its winter look. 

Rather than just one large building , the Grand Palace itself is really is more of a collection of numerous buildings which serve different official purposes. This is one of the larger buildings in the compound and it housed an impressive collection of weapons - swords, spears, guns, cannons and everything in between.

This pavilion was exquisitely decorated - too bad I wasn't allowed to enter.

In an effort to get away from the crowds I stumbled upon this little garden tucked into a corner behind one of the larger buildings. It was a quaint little area. 

After the Grand Palace I made my way to Wat Pho - known colloquially as the "Temple of the Reclining Buddha" because of the massive golden statue housed here.

The Reclining Buddha! This thing was massive.

Like really big - the position signifies the stage in the historical Buddha's life just before his death when he was struggling with illness.

The feet of the statue were the most impressive part as they were decorated with intricate inlays of mother of pearl. One of the physical "signs" of the Buddha were particular markings on his feet - so the inlay is symbolic as well as decorative. 

The craftsmanship was really beautiful and skillfully executed.

Unfortunately there was a big crack in the heel of the statue. I'm not certain what it is from, but Wat Pho is one of the oldest temples in Bangkok so it is not surprising that it's seen some things over the years.

The grounds of the Wat Pho complex were filled with these colorful, floral stupas.

Each entrance to the temple grounds was guarded by these Chinese stone statues which were believed to ward off evil spirits.

But I'm not entirely convinced that this one isn't an evil spirit himself.

Art. (Notice the rows of Buddha statues alone the walls of the courtyard - there were hundreds within the temple all arranged in similar rows)

One of said Buddha statues - this one had a really elaborately decorated base.

A dried lotus resting in the palm of one of the Buddha statues - the lotus is a very important symbol in Buddhism.

Some of the smaller buildings in the temple contained statue of the Buddha that depict certain parts in the story of how the Buddha attained enlightenment - this statue depicts the Buddha meditating under the Bodhi Tree.

This statue depicts the Buddha being sheltered from a terrible storm by Mucalinda, the Nagaraja (aka king of the nagas/snakes), shortly after his enlightenment. Before coming to Thailand I didn't know this part of the Buddhist lore - but I really liked the omnipresent naga statures

The Buddha spinning the "Wheel of Dharma" for the first time. After his enlightenment he encountered the five ascetics from his past and delivered his first sermon to them. They became monks and became a part of the first sangha (or company of Buddhist monks).

Wat Pho is also meant to be one of the first schools for traditional Thai massage - there is a section of the temple with all murals of the human body (front and back)  for instruction of the students.

I'm not sure if this shows the different pressure points or just the anatomy of the human body - interesting either way.

There was also this mural which doesn't look entirely human - not really sure what it's supposed to depict.

The architectural detail of the spires and roofs was really beautiful.

An ornate bell tower within the temple complex.

A shrine within the temple itself - I'm not certain whom the statues depict but they are obviously religiously signifigant. 

Wat Arun, the Temple of Dawn, another famous temple within Bangkok.

The spires of the temple were undergoing restoration while we were there but the temple itself was still an impressive sight to see. Here are the workers taking a little rest break on the scaffolding overlooking the city.

It was possible to climb up the main spire of the tower to get a better view of the decorative features.

The temple itself did seem a little worn, but that added to the charm. These figures are animal-like or mythological.

These feminine-looking statues feature scary faces on their stomach.

The view of the river and the Grand Palace from the top of Wat Arun. 

The view of the rest of the Bangkok skyline from Wat Arun. The temple was surrounded by four spires like the one on the left, but they were all covered in the same scaffolding. This was sadly my last full day in Bangkok.

After Bangkok I headed south to the island of Koh Tao where my aim was to get my Open Water Diving Certification! I spent seven beautiful, sunny days on the island.

The harbor of Koh Tao, my first glimpse of this island paradise. (Shoutout to the flag of Thailand)

Big Blue Diving Center - the beachfront restaurant and bar of the dive center I decided to go with after much research. If you ever find yourself on Koh Tao I highly recommend it!

The wet suit and equipment wash area  - diving is obviously an equipment intensive sport and it's important to maintain it properly. 

Across from the resort there was a guy with a monkey which was trained to climb the palm trees and harvest the coconuts. I'd never seen something like that before but I guess it's safer than having a human climbing up a big ladder just so we can all have some fresh coconut juice.

A close-up of the monkey - it would just spin the coconuts around until they twisted off the stem and fell to the ground.

The morning of the big dive! This is after I finished my Open Water Certification and decided to go for my Advanced Diving Certification as well - which means I can dive deeper to see more interesting things. We weren't allowed to take our cameras along on the Open Water course because it is too distracting when trying to learn to dive, but on the advanced we rented an underwater camera and got some great shots of the experience. It pales in comparison to actual diving, but at least it gives you a taste!

Getting our equipment ready for the dive - we were at a dive site called Chumphon Pinnacle for our "deep dive" to 30m (100ft).

All suited up and ready for the big dive!

The Big Blue logo as seen from the water.

Me giving the "okay/good" signal underwater - the "thumbs up" signal is used for going up or surfacing. I'll explain why I'm carrying a bag of  eggs later.

Some bannerfish swimming about the reef.

More fish! I can't identify these little fish from the picture unfortunately. 

Daisy, our diving instructor, holding the egg at 30m/100ft. The water pressure at this depth holds the yoke together so you can play catch with it. 

A gigantic school of Fusillers - the kind of fish that you can swim through the middle of and they scatter. A breathtaking experience! This is unfortunately one of the only good pictures from this dive - I wasn't in charge of the camera on this one.

Underwater selfies! On the second dive of the day we went to see a shipwreck that had been artificially sunk off the coast of the island. It sat at a depth of 25m. I was responsible for this round of photography and so I've got quite a few more shots.

A little crab on the pinkie of my dive partner Marta from Spain.

The main gun of the shipwreck coming into view. The reason that the photo is so blue is that as you dive deeper the water filters out different colors of visible light - red, orange and yellow are the first to go.

A parrotfish picking some food off the front turret of the shipwreck.

The shipwreck acts as an artificial reef so there are many different types of fish swimming through the remains of the vessel. It was only sunk a few years ago so it doesn't have a ton of coral growth yet, but it still hosts a diverse array of fish.

Me scouting out some of the fish hidden in the center section of the ship.

A lone bannerfish on the bow of the ship.

After the shipwreck we explored some of the nearby reefs - I caught these little black fish swimming amongst these spiky corals.

Two bright yellow butterfly fish swimming amongst the coral.

Clownfish swimming above the anemone. 

Marta and I on the surface after our last dive - we made an awesome buddy pair!

After a long day of diving it was time to bring all the equipment to shore - bittersweet.

Some island birds looking for scraps of food as we debrief our dive - recording the statistics of our dive in our logs.

The end of an era - I'm going to miss diving here but now that I'm certified I can't wait to go diving everywhere in the world!

Sunset over Koh Tao and the first half of my trip through Thailand. I'll miss the island but there is so much more to see!