Bangkok: when the Thais say grand – they mean it!


For our next day in Bangkok we decided to do some of the main tourist sites. The aim was to squeeze in the big 3 Bhuddas – Emerald, Reclining and Golden – and see the Grand Palace. We decided to use the boat transport system as a change from the smoggy roads and boy is that a recommendation. Each boat is designated by a coloured flag. They do a 150b day pass with which you can use the Tourist Boat (blue flag) or the Express Boat (orange flag). We got these but it actually worked out poor value as single trips on each boat are 40b and 15b respectively (and if you’re only hopping one stop sometimes the ticket woman won’t even get to you before you disembark!). If you’re doing similar sightseeing you probably won’t end up doing more than 3 or 4 trips so just chance it and pay on board.

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The first stop was the Grand Palace and Temple of the Emerald Bhudda. We came out through the small market which seems to congregate around each pier and walked alongside the Palace compound to the entrance. Signs and a tannoy all warned us not to trust anyone outside offering any tickets etc. as there are a lot of scam artists around.

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Never trust a wily stranger.

Once inside the compound the crowds and queues were large. There are strict dress rules about covering legs and arms. Neither ours or our friend’s guidebooks had accurately described this. Wearing a sarong as a shawl wasn’t acceptable, but t-shirts were. One guide said no open-toed shoes but they had no problem with this. They also claimed you should cover elbows and knees but even 3/4 length pants were a no-no. However they can lend you clothes for free if you need (albeit after another large queue and 200b deposit per item). I’ll post the real instructions below, along with Ali, Joe & Ellie modelling the natty garms.

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The consensus was “it had better be bloody grand after all this” but once we got in it all seemed worthwhile. The Temple of the Emerald Bhudda and surrounding monuments were incredible – I have never seen such detail on such a scale. Despite the huge crowds and jostling for photos it was a photographers paradise.

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This was just the bottom of one of the columns…!

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The Temple of the Emerald Bhudda itself was an enormous structure in the centre, suitably heaving with people removing their shoes to shuffle inside and offer prayer or just have a nosey. The smell of cheesy feet inside made us glad we hadn’t had lunch yet!

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He’s only 75cm tall, and constructed of jade rather than emerald, but its nonetheless impressive. You weren’t allowed to take pictures inside but luckily there was an opening straight outside for a convenient shot.

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He wears a golden robe and the royals change his outfit 3 times a year (very fashion conscious). Outside bhuddists could light incense and make offerings which was pleasant to stand and watch.

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Following that the next section of the complex was the Grand Palace itself. The king doesn’t live there anymore so its only used in ceremony. It’s quite huge and required me to have a first try of my panorama mode in my Fuji X-E1.

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There was one more large throne room and that was the first sights done. A quick lunch at the street market and we marched down to Wat Pho, home of the world’s largest reclining Bhudda.
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Wat Pho is where many monks go to learn the way of the Bhuddist. Its also a major tourist site thanks to a 46m long reclining Bhudda statue. Enormous doesn’t come close. It’s hard to get a sense of scale from the pics but it was awe-inspiring.
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The reclining Bhudda was surrounded by smaller statues and a huge row of vases which people were dropping pennies in. Again it was beautiful reverence punctuated by selfie sticks.
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We started wandering around but time was getting on so we made a break for the boat to get to the final Bhudda on the list – the Golden Bhudda!

We got a boat just in time and made it to the Wat Traisit temple just before it closed. We paid the 40b entry fee and ascended the stairs. The Bhudda at the top was astounding. 3m tall, 5 tonnes of the shiniest gold you ever did see, like some kind of giant, zen C3PO.

We were all knackered but very glad we made the effort. Finally we got the boat all the way back and enjoyed a great sunset on the river.

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