The Grand Palace and the plane to UbanRattatani

We wake up the next day, not feeling too good. Pretty miserable actually. As soon as we leave the AC, we're hit with the sweats and a throbbing headache. Again KSR is back into full Chaos mode as we roll out on to the street. We figure we better go see some "touristy" things or our trip will consist only of bars and guest houses with AC. We decide to check out the Grand Palace and hop in a taxi. The taxis are actually a good deal around Bangkok. You have to tell the guy, "turn the meter on!" or they'll just make up their own price, but when metered its pretty cheap. Outside the Grand Palace we're told we need to wear pants, so the vendors are trying to rent us some Zubaz looking pants for 50 baht. That seems like a good deal until we find out pants are free once you get in there. Hahaha. We had pants in our bags so we are all good. Again the heat, humidity, and the hang over have us sweating profusely. Cramer is soaked through his polo shirt and pants. The sweat is dripping off my brow. Inside the Grand Palace and Temple of the Emerald Buddha is unbelievable. Everything is coverd in gold, jewels, and shiny glass tiles. Amazing wall paintings are everywhere of Buddhas, dieties, monkeys, men, temples, palaces, and wars. Inside the temple area we put holy water on our heads and sit in silence as the many faithful buddhists meditate and pray in front of the Emerald Buddha, one of Thailand's most sacred spots. This area has a large golden pyramid with all kinds of buddhas and gods and on the very top sits a large Jade statue of the Buddha. It was originally thought to be emerald, hence the name. After walking the grounds a little more and taking some more pictures we jump in the taxi and head back to the airport. The taxis here are great for two reasons: one they are pretty reasonalbe compared to the states and they have the AC cranked.

We have an hour flight from Bangkok to UbanRattatoni (UR) near the Thai border with Laos. Our plan is to fly into UR and spend the night and take a bus in the morning to the city of Pakse in Laos. The flight is pretty cheap on $50 US, and we figure a 1 hour plane ride is better than a 10 hour train or bus ride. I may have been wrong. The plane ride was probably one of the most turbulent I've ever been on. We flew right through a huge rain storm during the night. I felt like I was on the giant drop at Great America, about 12 times. Fun, plus that quessy light headed feeling is still lingering and the bumps are making me think I may not make it...
We finally get to UR and after a taxi ride we arrive at our next guest house. Its at this time I finally realize something. I am much more than hungover, I am totally dehydrated and experiencing jet lag. The heat, the excessive amounts of beer, and the change to my sleeping schedule has really hit me hard. Its time to pound down the water. I down about 5 bottles of water, eat some dinner (hot spicy shanghai noodle with shrimp), take a shower, and lay down. No beer tonight. I end up only sleeping to about 3am and I'm wide awake. I then lay in bed and doing breathing exercies for a good hour or more, still nothing. We need to get up early anyway to catch our bus at 9am and grab some breakfast. I think I'm finally hydrated again and almost normal. No instant sweats. Hahaha. With us feeling better Cramer and I hop in the tuk tuk and head to the Bus station. By the way a Tuk Tuk is a little taxi with 3 wheels that you sit in the back and is usually much cheaper than the real taxis. The only problem with the Tuk Tuk's is that in Bangkok the guys all are scam artists that take you on free tours and end up taking you places you don't want to go and drop you off at stores and other places to get you to buy things. Otherwise the tuk tuk's are pretty fun to drive around in. There is a picture of one at the top.