The room is no longer rocking and the land legs are back. The Hotel where we stayed was actually under water last year when the devasting floods hit Northern Thailand and made their way south to Bangkok. Our room was inundated for two months but we saw no evidence of this.
It was lovely....especially the view from our door.
We met Rabbit this morning for a mini tour of Bangkok. Catching the public river boat was an experience......you certainly had to be quick getting on and off! The Chao Phraya River was a hive of activity especially with the barges laden with sand (for construction), sugar or rice.
(See the Opera House in the background....how cool is that...it's blue!)
Our first stop was the Grand Palace. No trip to Bangkok would be complete without a visit here. The current King of Thialand doesn't live at the Palace but it is used for official events and is a big tourist attraction.
We did have to wear appropriate clothing.......covered legs.....and as you can see in the photos it was a very warm day, hence the red faces! The entire complex is very large covering over 218,000 square metres and it is surrounded by 4 walls. The army are on guard .....
and we saw the changing of the guard....a bit like at Buckingham Palace.
The Grand Palace is made up of numerous buildings.
The gold building in the left of the photo isn't painted but made up of millions of tiny gold tiles, and when the sun came out it was almost blinding.
Buildings of all shapes and sizes and ornately decorated with tiles, mother of pearl and paint.
Hundreds of statues.....some small
and some large
and some that weren't statues but were just like them
These guards are on eight hour shifts with only a break every two hours for a drink and toilet visit
.....I give these guys a 10 out of 10 for dediction.....standing motionless & expressionless in the heat in those clothes......a big tick!
The Temple of the Emerald Buddha. No cameras were allowed inside so this photo was taken from outside.
By the time we left the Grand Palace the crowd had grown considerably and it was getting quite warm in our long pants!!! After a short stroll through a street market we arrived at the Wat Pho Temple which covers 20 acres and is home to the magnificent Reclining Buddha.
This gold plated Buddha is 46m long and 15m in height and it was very difficult to get a full picture of it
.......not sure who the couple is.
The Wat Pho Temple is home to the most number of Buddhas in Thailand
more than 1000. By this stage in our tour Russell was starting to loose interest in temples and buddhas and although I was interested in the history and beauty of them, I must admit I was tiring of them too. Our mode of transport back to our Hotel was a tuk tuk.
Crazy drivers but I love these as a way to get around....and the breeze was refreshing in a warm sort of way!
We had only booked to stay one night in Bangkok so our next stop was the Bangkok airport for our one hour flight to Chiangmai in Northern Thailand. A new Hotel.....another bed....The Holiday Inn....the best yet......great location.....top floor with a fantastic view over this city which is the second largest in Thailand. Rabbit had told us that we must visit the Walking Street Markets only held on a Sunday night in Chiangmai, so it was our lucky night. A tuk tuk ride cost us about $3.30 and before long we were at this fantastic market......like nothing we have seen before......bigger and better than Bugis in Singapore. Lots of handmade items. It was time to start buying some gifts for loved ones at home and while I wandered around Russell decided to have a 30 minute foot and leg massage for $2......making us both happy campers!
A tuk tuk ride back to the Hotel ready for a big full day tomorrow.
Dill of the Day : Our taxi driver to the Bangkok airport......135km hour.....and we weren't in a hurry as we had 2 hours to fill in!
Linda :)
Am loving reading about your travels Linda, the photos are great, makes one want to kick off the rubber boots and leave the dairy and hop on a plane and train to Thailand :)
Posted by: Carol | February 29, 2012 at 06:40 PM
I too am enjoying hearing about your adventures. Thanks for sharing.
Posted by: Cynthia | February 29, 2012 at 07:40 PM