Ta and her sister and I visited a couple of the larger temples and the Grand Palace. (I guess I can tell my mom that I went to church this weekend!) They were insanely huge and ornate. Really beautiful, but I felt kinda weirded out, like I was paying admission to gawk at a couple of monks and the other tourists. I hate the feeling that I’m complicit in commodifying culture. Felt like Disney Wat (wat is thai for temple). There was some really exquisite mosaic ornamentation done in a 3-dimensional style that I took pictures of so that I can experiment with that style of mosaic when I get back home, and some other
interesting stuff. Mostly I couldn't take pictures of the buddha statues because they tend to be kept in the sanctuary where pictures weren't allowed. I’m not a very good tourist at all. Not buying overpriced souvenirs, not taking oodles of photo opp’s at the temples and palace.