Can't afford a European vacation this summer? Do what our contributor Claire Duffett did: Explore Southeast Asia instead.
A 20-minute ferry ride up the Chao Phraya River from downtown Bangkok, you'll find a boatload of temples in the Phra Nakorn district. Motoring upriver, there's the old capital on the left bank and on the right bank, the wats and temples inside The Royal Palace, built in 1782. Each building vies for the title of the most ornate, gold-encrusted, bejeweled homage to the man formerly known as Siddhartha Gautama.]]>