Firstly, to let you know we’re uploading more photos to Flickr as we go and only choosing a few to go here. See our flickr page or the photos block on the right for more…
Our first full day in Bangkok was mostly spent at the Grand Palace – the holiest Buddhist location in Thailand and home to the Emerald Buddha (which is actually made of jade). But before we got there our tuk-tuk driver (who spoke about 3 words of English: gasoline, grand and palace) decided to take us on an unrequested tour of some other sites, which confused us totally. He then requested a steep 100 baht for his services having said 40 baht to start with. “Taken for a ride” seems fitting 🙂
Anyway, The Grand Palace is an amazing place with such intricate detail throughout. As with other buildings of such size and detail, I was amazed by the dedication and precision of the workmen that made it – it must have taken years! In fact it’s still ongoing – due to the heat & humidity the work decays quickly so there’s constant repair work underway.
We got caught in our first Thai thunderstorm at the Grand Palace and appreciate the ponchos that we’d popped in our bag.
Still not jealous…well OK, maybe a little.