Bangkok....part 2

As promised....Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew.....again...my mom and i took a tuk tuk...and just a small piece of advice...never ever take the first price, barter....yes...even the first price, when converted to your local currency , is cheap...but it is the principle of some of them DEF NOT ALL wanting to rip off the tourist....but that said...i love the tuk tuks...they are so much fun....again...at the Grand Palace and the temple we took a local guide...as mentioned...you just gain so much more from the experience...but before we get there...my mom and i got tricked into a long tail boat ride which would stop at Wat Arun, temple of dawn....how did we manage that....well....we arrived at the Grand Palace and some local told us it was only opening at 11, i said, no, it opens at 8:30, he then said it was Buddah day...and you know...honestly, i would not know...so he suggested we take a boat ride and go see Wat Arun....well...we wanted to see that temple anyway..so what did the order matter......so off we went to the boat which turned out to be a long tail boat....here some pics....

The guide took us to the opposite side of the river to the Wat Arun....he gave us 25min...enough time for my mother and i to go explore...there were no guides....but we did get asked to each put a surong around our knees and shoulders....hahaha....what a beautiful temple and so so different.....here a pic...the middle one you could climb up....

Of course my mom and i climbed up...each stair being about 40cm and hell of an incline...wow...was not easy to get up...let alone get down...duck feet definitely....view...amazing...here is an interesting fact....the temple is so named because the first light of the morning reflects off the surface of the temple with pearly iridescence.....and yes...of course i have some pics...

The temple is situated right on the Chao Phraya river.....then the guide took us around the river...we saw the floating market....well you cannot ,in my opinion, call one lady on her lonely paddle boat selling some fruit a floating market...oh well.....and then feeding fishes....that was cool....so greedy

It was a nice experience...we ended at a market....of course foodies...and yes...of course i had to try things...these garlic fruits...so sweet...so amazing...and bananas in every version you can think of...grilled like skewers....fried in leaves....plain...dried...caramalized or fried in different sugar...and yes...that was the one i opted for....here a pic of the fruits and bananas

Finally time for the palace...and now we found out we were snyed...the palace had been open since 8:30, no buddah day...the local probably made commission on the boat...oh well...we enjoyed....at the Grand Palace we had to pay a deposit to get clothes....so fashionable and then we took a guide...again...amazing what we learnt...here some facts

- The palace has been the official residence of the Kings of Siam (and later Thailand) since 1782. The king, his court and his royal government were based on the grounds of the palace until 1925

- In shape, the palace complex is roughly rectangular and has a combined area of 218,400 square metres (2,351,000 sq ft), surrounded by four walls. It is situated on the banks of the Chao Phraya River at the heart of the Rattanakosin Island, today in the Phra Nakhon District

- The Grand Palace is divided into four main courts, separated by numerous walls and gates: the Outer Court, the Middle Court, the Inner Court and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha

So...now some pics of the Grand Palace...stunning....last pic...is half human and half rooster....and the guide told us the story of the buddah.....so it was worth checking out the temple murals, which depict the traditional life-story of the Buddha, proverbs and episodes from the Ramakien -- the Thai version of the Ramayana, interesting...but a lot of info.....


The last stop was Wat Phra Kaew -- Temple of the Emerald Buddha -- enshrines one of Thailand's most revered Buddha statues, which was carved out of a single block of jade.....we had to take off our shoes and inside the temple no photos allowed....the buddah has three oufits....one for each season....summer, rain and winter...the summer outfit costs 70million baht...WOW....it was beautiful....i loved seeing...

After that.....lunch time...and time to fetch kim... Fetched him at the train station....took a short walk through the famous Pratunam market and then time for the pool...and happy hour cocktails....amazing pool..overflow pool....pics...yes....of course

After pool....yes...some more chill time...then happy hour at the lobby...here a pic....

Evening we went to the famous Go-Go bar street and found a quaint little restaurant....amazing night market.....yes, we all shopped...from t-shirts, scarfes, jeans....so much fun..and quality...amazing....the food at the restaurant...great....kim ordered and we trusted...and i gave my 50c of opinion...divine food....from beef in chillie sauce to prawns stri fried to deep fried kebabs and morning glory veggies....here a pic of some of the dishes....

End of the evening...Irish pub....and then goodnite from my side....next blog....last one on Bangkok....cheerio...another nice day spent in Bangkok.....

 

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