Wat Arun, temple of the Dawn.

I woke up early today to make my way to Wat Arun.  I thought I would try to walk to the river boat pier and then take the boat to the temple.  I was given directions the day before from the Canadian (Cathy McConnell) teacher at the school in Bangkok.  I was told it is very straight forward and simple to find.  So off I went with my backpack full of things and my map in hand.  My goal was to find Wang Lang pier.  Well, of course I got lost.  A helpful traffic director try to steer me in the right direction, but I still managed to get lost.  I ended up on a pier by the river, but it was definitely not the pier I needed:  There were a couple of Thai's fishing and the surroundings were that of a construction site.  Defeated, I took a cab the rest of the way.  I was kind of nervous about the cab driver as he only had one eye, and was weaving in and out of traffic very quickly.  However, I made it safe and sound.  

So a little information about Wat Arun.... It is named after Aruna, the Indian God of the Dawn.  It is considered to be one of the most well known temples and landmarks in Thailand.  The temple is named as such because of the light the morning sun casts on the walls of the temple causing a shiny iridescence.  Originally the temple was located on the palace grounds across the river during the time of Rama I, but was later moved.  It was abandoned for a long time until Rama II restored and expanded the temple. The main attraction of the temple is its colorful porcelain exterior.  The height of the main tower is 86 m.   

Climbing up the tower was easy, but going down made me nervous.  The stairs were purposely made to be steeper and more difficult to climb as you went up, symbolizing that the climb to greatness is also more difficult the further you go in life. 

After I finished my tour of Wat Arun, I headed back to the school to work for the afternoon.... not nearly as interesting as being a tourist.