Day 4 (Pt. 1): Wat Pho
Today we took the river taxi up the the dock near Wat Pho , which is just south of the Grand Palace. Wat Pho's claim to fame is the giant Reclining Buddha, but there is a lot of other cool stuff there as well. For example, there is this 'mountain' that demonstrated various yoga and massage positions. This is here because Wat Pho was actually established as a university, and is still the foremost school for learning Thai massage. They also have their own website. Here is a general view of the compound. We found Wat Pho much more charming that Wat Phra Kaew, because while the latter is very nice, it is kind of too perfect, whereas Wat Pho is a little more worn, and seems more real. Also unlike Wat Phra Kaew, Wat Pho has resident monks, which adds to the feel, I think. These guys were my favorite. They are farangs, and are said to represent Dutch traders from the Ayutthaya period , when the capital of Thailand was located in that city, which is north of present day Bang...