Temples!

Yesterday we spent the day touring the two most visited temples in Thailand.  First, we went to the Temple of the Emerald Buddha and the Grand Palace.  I was amazed at just how much there was to see.  My photos aren't as fancy as those on the wiki, but here is the link.

My favorite part of the day was our trip to the Temple of the Reclining Buddha.  It was huge and beautiful, and allowed us to get quite close to take photos. 

We had a great lunch at S & P, a popular restaurant chain in Thailand that had a similar in feel to Panera in the US.   I have fallen in love with Som Tam, a thai dish similar to coleslaw made of green papaya. 

Today, we're visiting another temple in the Dusit district of Bangkok.  I'm interested to get an idea of how long it will take us to get there.  Mahidol University, the institution I'm assigned to work with, is in this area.  So, I'll get a chance to see what my morning commute will be like.

Also, I learned that we are getting a bit of news coverage.  One of our fellow doctoral students, Chuck Carney, is the Director of Communications and Media Relations for the IU School of Education.  He wrote a news release about our trip that was picked up by Inside Indiana Business!  So, we're pretty much big time now.