There was more that we were going to do today, it was really a jam packed day that took a lot out of me. Our next stop was to the Tharn Thara (pronounced Tan Tara) Spa. They figured that after all the stress of the procession, we should have a trip to the spa to recouperate. Our time at the spa consisted of us having 15 minutes in a sauna, the air was infused with some sort of herb that made us sweat a lot, and then 15 minutes in a jacuzzi (with the same herb). We then had a hour long traditional Thai massage. It was all very relaxing, and I almost fell asleep during the massage.
Our next stop was at Big Buddha, and thats what it was. It was a gigantic statue of a Buddha. When we first got there it was rainy and so misty that we could barely see the statue. Luckily for us, the mist cleared and we were able to see it a bit better.
This is the view when we first got here...the most we could really make out was his hand, and then just the misty outline of where the rest of his body would be. Luckily it cleared up so we could see more:)
After the mist had cleared a bit, this is what we could see. It fogged over after a bit, and started to get really rainy and windy, so we didn't have much time here.
This is the future of the Big Buddha. This is what they want to buildup, and you are allowed to donate money in order to fund this expansion. As of right now they just have the Big Buddha, and the golden one, but they are working on the expansion. The way that they set up the donation area was really smart. You could pay 100 Baht for a small marble tile, or 300 for a large tile, and then write a message on the tile. They would then carve your message into a piece of marble that would eventually go onto the Big Buddha...or so they say. Either way, it was a good idea, and I bought a small tile and wrote my name on it :)
The view from the Big Buddha. This is looking out over the hills to the city below, and the ocean off to the side. It would probably be a lot prettier if there wasn't the fog/clouds, but I thought it was a unique picture, and the grays give it some character.
My friend Courtney and I standing by the big drum. You hit this three times for good luck. Due to the wind that we were experiencing, I think the drum hit me three times for good luck.
The Bell Tree. I'm not sure the significance of this but I have seen them at a lot of the temples I have visited. It is a tree that has a great quantity of bells hanging off of it. I know that you can ring the bells for good luck, but other than that I don't know the significance. When the wind blew through the tree, it made a beautiful twinkling sound.
I bought a piece of marble that would eventually go onto the Big Buddha, to help in advancing the reconstruction. You could put a message on the marble that would be carved into it, before being placed onto the statue. Even if my message never gets put up there, I still got to help to make it bigger :).
Our next stop was shopping, and I bought a few English books because my town doesn't really sell English books, and I wanted something to read. There was quite a few cool things in this mall, but nothing that really jumped out and said "Buy Me! Buy Me!" Haha. It was weird seeing all of the "western" food chains. I saw Subway, McDonalds (big surpise there!), Starbucks...lots of different shops.
Our last stop of the evening was at the Phuket FantaSea..pretty much a big zoo, but not really a zoo. I don't know how to explain it....it did have a few wild animals (white tigers, deer, birds) but it also had a lot of other things like games and stores. We watched a show here, that told a bit of the history of Thailand, using elephants, animals, traditional Thai dance, and then some more unique acrobatic things. It was all pretty good, but by the time it was over, we were all feeling very tired, and couldn't wait to get to bed. Tomorrow we would be heading to Nakorn Si Thammerat to continue our adventure.
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