Phra Pathom

Last weekend View took us to the largest chedi in Thailand. Legend has it that long ago there was a king who visited some kind of fortune teller. It was predicted that his next son would kill him. The king was distraught and when his son was born he abandoned him and floated down the river. One day there was a battle, the queen recognized her long lost son by a scar on his face. Before she could stop him he had slain the King aka his father. Later on he found out the truth and built the largest Chedi in Thailand in honor of his dad. He said that he wanted it to be as high as the birds fly. The chedi is surrounded by many caves that are filled with statues and used for worshipping purposes. 

The view of the chedi from above.

We took a train across the province to visit the chedi. Although it was a rather long wait at the station it was a nice ride. View also told us a lot about Thai food, plants, and other things we were curious about while we ate. Apparently the clear noodles are made of green beans. Who would've thought?!?! While we were eating lunch one of the guys working at the food stall came up to View and asked her how old he was. After that he asked if I was married. After that I couldn't understand their Thai anymore, but I think he might've been the first Thai guy to almost creep me out.

raisin and corn waffles on the street.
I tried a corn one and it wasn't bad.

Cashana and I outside Phra Pathom

The entrance to the caves at the temple

Even inside a cave you had to remove your shoes

While in the caves this man who worked there called Sean and I over. He took a bunch of bamboo sticks, dipped them in some kind of water, and tapped them on our heads. Apparently he was blessing us but View said on monks do that and he wasn't wearing a monks robes so who knows what happened.

Entrance to another cave

This watermelon is cheap and awesome
 but it sure is awkward to eat those big slices armed with nothing but that little stick.

This little boy held onto those loops the whole train ride.

A monk who reached enlightenment

Typical lunch at the MUIC cafeteria. 

Anyways I am officially in the home stretch of this trip. After my tropical medicine final I will be headed back to America. Although flying back easter Sunday is kind of a bummer my Aunt is going to pick me up from JFK and taking me to easter dinner during my layover before I go back to North Carolina, so that should be really nice. I haven't started packing yet, but I am armed with space bags, a vacuum, a scale, and lots of determination to leave a minimal amount of stuff behind. I hope that everybody's week is off to a nice start!

The view walking back from the hospital.