A Day at the Grand Palace

The grand Palace in Bangkok never ceases to amaze me. As many times as I have been there, it appears more beautiful each time. Although it is hot and humid today, it's not particularly crowded and I am able to walk around and look at the buildings and really admire them.
I got here by the regular boat. It cost about $0.50 and you take it with the regular commuters going to work everyday. Of course you are never quite sure where to get off. I was lucky and hit the right stop. I'm including lots of pictures because this is truly a beautiful place.
It was great to just walk around and really be able to look at the beautiful statues and to feel the Holiness of this place. Many of the people brought offerings to the Buddha. They were lighting candles, incense and bringing Lotus blossoms to honor the Buddha. I do find it amazing that a country where people are so poor their places of worship are so ornate.
I didn't go in to see the emerald Buddha. I had seen it before and it really isn't all that impressive. You expect to see this huge statue of the Buddha and it really is very small and it's not green.
After while it really got too hot and I was sweating very heavily. I stopped and bought a couple of bottles of water to rehydrate. I needed it desperately.
On my way out I had to wait because the Army Band was marching into the palace. They were quite interesting. They have these large furry hats similar to those used by the palace guards at Buckingham Palace in London except they are hot pink and they are made of Styrofoam with a pink fur glued to it. Very interesting.
When I got outside a group of high school students asked if they could interview me. Naturally I said yes. One girl interviewed me while another girl videoed the interview. The rest of them just stood around smiling. They asked questions like why did I come here and how many times have I been here. They wanted to know what my favorite place in Thailand was and what place I would most like to go. It's always fun to help students.

Well time to get back on the boat. Again I took the regular shuttle. It must be difficult on a daily basis for the locals to fight for space on these boats. They need them to get to work and we tourists just want to go look around. It's great fun though.






















Now I am relaxing
 it one of my favorite places in Bangkok, Starbucks. A little bit of Home in Southeast Asia.

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