Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Thailand - Bangkok

Arriving early morning in Bangkok, our arranged transport to the hotel failed to show up (we heard from him later - he called to apologize that he had been given the wrong time). Again strangers were very helpful in assisting us with our troubles - and we managed to catch a taxi to the hotel no problem.

After checking in and showering, we headed to pick up our custom made clothing. We were re-fitted and they kindly had everything sent to our hotel later in the day so that we didn't have to carry them around. We can certainly recommend Briani of Bangkok if anyone is looking for custom suits in Thailand.

So free of baggage, we took the skytrain and a river boat to the Grand Palace. Even after all the temples and pagodas we had visited, the palace was still very impressive.

There were endless buildings, each one overwhelming on its own.
But en masse they are all the more magnificent. The buildings were well maintained with some tile work and painting still being done. We were not sure if it was restoration work - if they were fixing older artwork, the old was completely removed first.

As in many other cultures, gold is much desired and there is no shortage of it at the palace. Anywhere you see 'gold' in these photos, it truly is gold.

We visited the museum where many more gold artifacts were stored - no photos allowed of course!! There were personal kits of kings and queens. Each person gets a whole new set - no reusing of the past kings effects. There were belts and rings full of gold and diamonds and rubies and emeralds. There were also many examples of coins over the centuries. The form of their conis was very different prior to the 1800's. At that point, the current king westernized the style of their coins and the old styles went out of use.

From the palace, we returned to do our final packing before heading out for dinner.
We found a Korean neighbourhood where we had a very yummy Galbae. However, we (or should I say 'I') also ordered another dish of ground beef with spices and vegetables which is apparently eaten raw. So unfortunately that part of our meal went uneaten. Ah well, not an overly expensive lesson at $10!

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