day 3

today we decided to head back to the grand palace.. this time with no problems! we knew where we were going and we didnt even get hassled. the grand palace cost us 350b (just over 7 pounds) and was jaw droppingly beautiful. lots of ornate sparkling gold and jewelled buildings and giant statues. inside some of the buildings were paintings on the walls and large gold buddhas. really stunning. outside one building we used a flower to dip in a gold bowl and pour the water onto our heads. not quite sure the symbolism behind this, but inside was the emerald buddha who the monks were worshipping. he was perched high on a piramid of gold and jewels. you have to take your shoes off to enter, making sure you sit with your feet away from the buddha, and no photography was allowed. we did take lots of photos of everything else though!

after spending a few hours looking around the grand palace we headed down the street to visit the reclining buddha. this was equally impressive! he was massive!! his body filled the entire length of the building, his foot was taller than me! the buddha was completely gold and we got some nice photos. outside were more ornate buildings and lots of smaller gold buddhas. after walking around for most of the day in the baking heat (and covered up as you have to) we headed back to the hostel for a cool shower! oh and on the way back we each bought a lovely bag for about 2 pounds!

on the evening we went to the local night market for another lovely meal and my favourite fruit smoothies! then relaxed on the rooftop lounge talking to some other people from the hostel, swapping stories!

day 4

today we are having a relaxing day at the hostel. weve got a lot of travelling coming up and also still trying to settle into things. rang home today which was quite emotional!!

think we are travelling to khao yai national park tomorrow (we keep changing our route!) going to head to the train station and see if we can grab some tickets. not looking forward to travelling on 2 sky trains, an underground metro and then the main train with all our bags in the scorching heat!