{"id":584,"date":"2023-10-15T11:30:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-15T10:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sarahanderictraveltheworld.wordpress.com\/?p=584"},"modified":"2024-12-09T03:44:15","modified_gmt":"2024-12-09T03:44:15","slug":"grand-tours-and-wat-not","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sarahanderictraveltheworld.com\/index.php\/2023\/10\/15\/grand-tours-and-wat-not\/","title":{"rendered":"Grand Tours and Wat-not"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Activity level: \ud83c\udf36\ufe0f\ud83c\udf36\ufe0f\ud83c\udf36\ufe0f\ud83c\udf36\ufe0f\ud83c\udf36\ufe0f<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Modes of transportation: \ud83d\udc5f\ud83d\udef6\ud83d\udefa<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We decided to check out of our hotel this day because it was a little pricy, so we packed up our stuff and headed out. Eric found a great deal at a very nice place nearby (The Vince Hotel), which was only a short walk away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Before leaving, Eric was tasked with solving the puzzle that was the pants Sarah bought yesterday.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

They didn\u2019t have our room ready yet, so we dropped off our bags and headed out to see the Grand Palace: the old king residences and national treasure of Thailand. First, we had to find an ATM\u2014and luckily our debit card worked again. We jumped right into a tuk-tuk, a sort of three-wheeled motorbike with passenger space in the back. They\u2019re a classic part of Bangkok, and they litter the roads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Walking to our new cheaper hotel (that turned out to be much better than the first. Turns out we\u2019re not 5 star people).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Immediately, our driver took a hard U-turn and we had to hold on for dear life (did I mention there are no seatbelts?). It was a little unnerving speeding across the city, but we made it to the Grand Palace with everything intact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A little frazzled after a hard U-turn<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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We should have done our research more, but there are no shorts allowed in the palace or any \u201cwats\u201d (Buddhist temples). Sarah was looking stylish in her new Thai pants, but Eric had to buy some \u201cpants of shame\u201d as Sarah calls them from the vendors on the street (he haggled them down to 150 baht\u2014definitely still an overpay, but what can you do).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Eric got himself a fun pair of pants too.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We decided to hire a guide to try to get the most out of the experience, and we\u2019re so glad we did. It\u2019s fairly common to hire a guide outside the gates, so we chose a very nice older Thai lady who seemed knowledgeable (it was also about 3x cheaper\u20141000 baht\u2014than going through any websites). She also informed us that she was working to make money to feed her 15 cats, so Sarah was sold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Us with our lovely guide!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Immediately, we were glad we hired her. She showed us the tamarind trees planted in the entryway by the first king in the current royalty and picked some fresh leaves for us, informing us that these were used for traditional pad Thai. They tasted very lemony, and are used to impart fragrance and acidity without citrus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sarah loved the taste of the tamarin plant.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Our guide insisted we take a photo in front of all the monuments, so we have lots of this trip!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

She explained to us the history of the kings and which ones were generally regarded as the best. She also taught us some of the parables and stories from Buddhism that were painted all along the walls of the square (144 paintings!). It was enlightening! (Pun intended)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sarah found the love story of the monkeys and mermaids most interesting. We are planning on reading the full story of the Ramamien.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The architecture inside was beautiful and extraordinarily ornate, with thousands of little details, all hand-made. We also found it interesting that much of the architecture wasn\u2019t Thai: there was much Chinese and Indian influence, among others. The cultures view themselves as sort of kindred nations that have only really split in the modern era.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photos can\u2019t do it justice\u2014everything was covered in gold.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Every centimeter of the grounds was meticulously designed and brightly colored.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Before we got to the Grand Palace, we visited Wat Phra Kaew. We took off our shoes (as you have to in all the temples) and got to see the pretty amazing sculpture of Buddha made from pure emerald. It was amazingly huge (24 inches tall, 12 or so inches wide), and our tour guide gave us all the facts about Buddhism, including all the main characters. We found it fascinating! Eric did feel sort of bad that she was talking in the temple, since there were about a hundred \u201cno talking\u201d signs, but she seemed like she knew what she was doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cStrike a pose!\u201c<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We spent about an hour and a half outside the temple and in the surrounding gardens, and by the time we made it to the grand palace, our tour was almost over. People (at least tourists) weren’t allowed to go inside, so it was a quick walk past the beautiful exterior before heading to the exit. The main current palace was built actually with European and Thai style, since Rama 5 (now on 10) was a big fan of London. In fact, there were a few older palaces that had the flair of the king who built them on the grounds that are interesting. They pretty much stopped after the 19th century, though, since the latest one was built in 1880.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It was interesting to see the mix of Western and Eastern styles in this structure.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After the tour, our guide helped us book a boat tour to check out the canals of Bangkok, with a drop off near two of the most famous temples. We were absolutely starving, though, since we hadn\u2019t eaten all day (it was about 4:00 PM). So we bought some croissants at the bakery and a large amount of mango before heading to our boat (they don\u2019t eat while walking here, so our guide insisted we wait to eat until we were on the boat).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The boat tour was a little dicey at first: in the main river, it was choppy; and our boat was very narrow. We made it into a canal pretty soon, and enjoyed the calm ride through the waterways, past some beautiful temples and interesting houses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On the ride, our captain slowed down to let a vendor try to sell us wares. Eric expertly haggled down some beers (not really\u2014the guy laughed when he tried), and we bought two \u201cChangs\u201d for 160 baht just for the novelty of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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You know you negotiated too low when the seller laughs at you. We did get the beer at a nice price though!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n