The Solid Gold Buddha

The connection here is flaky. It's getting late and I keep losing my work. Therefore the commentary on this blog will be brief.

We walk all day and visit some of the most famous and amazing temples. The city has grown an astounding amount since I was last here in a flight suit 45 years ago.

I could write a book about the ways I've been conned by tuk-tuk drivers in only two days. It is best to stick with metered taxis which are very inexpensive.

After breakfast we start out walking north, then grab a tuk-tuk to the Golden Buddha when the heat and traffic become overwhelming.

The Golden Buddha is solid gold and weighs about eight tons. It was covered with plaster centuries ago because of an invasion and pretty much forgotten as time passed. A few years ago it was bumped by a crane and the monks were very surprised to see what was beneath.

I love these three pink elephants outside the palace complex on the island that contains the old city.

The Reclining Buddha in the Wat Po temple complex is about 135 feet long. We pay off our tuk-tuk driver and hoof it from here to the palace complex, which contains the Emerald Buddha temple.

Yawn...Goodnight world...signing out at midnight. Off to Chiang Mai in the mountains in the morning. Hope it's cooler.