Day Two: Bangkok

Still unable to sleep through the night, we started day two in Bangkok bright and early, but definitely a bit worse for wear.  The city was abuzz because the King of Thailand would be traveling down the river for a ceremony at one of the flood gates that separates the main river from the canals.  We received a note under our hotel room door asking that we keep the balcony door shut when the royal boat went by.  All along the river, people were out decorating for the King's arrival.

 Decoration in front of our hotel:

On our way to the royal palace, we saw some young boys waiting to catch the ferry.  One of our cab drivers later told us that one of the advantages for boys who become monks, at least for a time, is that their books and uniforms are free of charge (through donations). Otherwise, families must shoulder those costs, even for children in public schools.

Some other scenes from markets along the way to the royal palace:

Our account of Bangkok would not be complete without noting the rather constant stream of people trying to get money out of us.  (Now three weeks into our trip, we've had the same experience in other places, but not to the same extent--or degree of sneakiness--as in Bangkok.)  One common ploy which we had read about in guidebooks was someone stopping tourists near a popular tourist sight to inform them the attraction was closed.  The person would then try to direct the tourist to a shop, often offering a suspiciously cheap tuk tuk ride.  Turns out both the tout and driver get a commission from anything purchased.  Sure enough, not far from the palace entrance, we were stopped by a guy wearing a "tourist police" uniform, complete with possibly-authentic badge.  After helpfully warning us to beware of pickpocketers in the area, he told us that the palace was closed until 4pm because the king was visiting (sounds reasonable, right?).  He recommended that we visit a particular shop in the meantime and offered to find us a cheap tuk tuk.  We declined and headed to the palace anyway, which, miracle of miracles, was open!


The Grand Palace is breathtaking!  We didn't have a tour guide to fill in all the details, but the pictures largely speak for themselves.

Outside the palace walls:

 Inside the palace walls:

 

Busy bees preparing for the King's arrival...

Next, we visited Wat Pho, also known as the Temple of the Reclining Buddha:

After sightseeing, we headed back to tailor for a fitting:

Exhausted from the long day, we returned to the hotel with the intention of having a low key dinner and going to be early.  We made it to bed early (7:30!), but never to dinner.  Probably for the best, because we had to be up at 5am for our flight to Siem Reap, Cambodia.  More on that to come!