tales from thailand: Orientation: The Royal Palace

We finally arrived in Thailand after 2 long flights. The first (San Fran-Tokyo) went by fast because I watched about 6 movies and tons of TV shows. If anyone is interested, Moonrise Kingdom is a quirky film that was really entertaining and well-done. Beasts of the Southern Wild was a film I also watched on the plane and even though it was heart-wrenching, it was amazingly well-done. I suggest watching both!!
Anyways, Alexis and I arrived in Bangkok after our flight from Tokyo which we both used as a prime napping opportunity. Once we got to the airport, we had 12 hours to kill until our scheduled pick-up to the hotel. After lots of games, delusions, and unsuccessful attempts at naps, we finally met up with the other teach in thailanders and made our way to the Louis Tavern Hotel. Needless to say, Alexis and I passed out minutes after we settled into our room... and slept for 17 hours. It was a very necessary nap.
Orientation at the hotel was very informative and everyone I met was so nice. Orientation made me so excited to get to the classroom and start interacting with the students. The teaching overviews, Thai lessons, and general Thailand seminars were very helpful but I was eager to move on to the excursions.
Our first trip was to the Royal Palace which was the original palace and home of many sacred Buddhist temples. This is considered a very historic part of the city of Bangkok because the area surrounding the palace cannot renovate from its original construction to preserve the history of the palace.
Our tour guide, Lucky, was the cutest Thai woman who was very informative about the different architectural designs of the buildings inside the palace walls and the history of the royal family and the palace itself. The detail in the architecture and design of the temples is literally like nothing I have ever seen before. The true beauty of the buildings was in the details of the patterns on the walls and the beautiful colored gems used to decorate.
The temple of the emerald Buddha is one of the most famous sites inside the Royal Palace, and it is considered a very holy place. On the outside, the temple had beautiful detail and on the inside the walls painted a beautiful story of the life of the Buddha.
Overall the Royal Palace was an amazing day trip that was literally unforgettable. The buildings were truly remarkable and despite the heat rash I obtained, and our strange seafood buffet lunch, it was one of the highlights of my time in Thailand so far.