Bangkok - Day 3

Day 3 - 27/12/2015

1. Woke up early morning and went to Ibis for Breakfast. From there took an express boat and went to Grand Palace. A strict dress code applies. The Grand Palace with The Temple of the Emerald Buddha is Thailand's most sacred site. Visitors must be properly dressed before being allowed entry to the temple. Men must wear long pants and shirts with sleeves no tank tops. Women must be similarly modestly dressed. No see-through clothes, bare shoulders, etc.

 If anyone show up at the front gate improperly dressed, there is a booth near the entrance that can provide clothes to cover you up properly (a deposit is required). Vedanth and Barath came in shots and they were sent to change cloths J

Finally entering the Grand Palace, I was totally captivated by the beauty of the place. I quickly saw why many proclaim this to be the most beautiful place in Thailand. The structures and monuments were all shiny and gold, and very majestic looking. We booked for a guided tour. As per the guide, this palace was built in 1782 and the tall building on the right is the royal monastery of the emerald Buddha.

 

It houses a Buddha image carved from jade actually, which was first discovered in the year 1434. A ceremony officiated by the king is held three times a year to let the emerald Buddha wear different outfits according to the season, summer, rainy season or winter.

Unfortunately I wasn’t allowed to take pictures from inside. We took pictures from outside. We walked to the main mansion and took few pics of the palace and some with guard.

2. -- Panoramic view of Buddha at Wat Pho temple  --

From there we went to Wat Pho by walk. It took us 20 min to walk from Grand Palace. Wat Pho (Golden) is temple of Reclining Buddha. This is one of the oldest and famous. As per guide in Palace, The statue of the reclining Buddha represents Buddha’s serene and composed posture before leaving this world. We went around the temple. It was very hot and free water bottles were provided inside the temple. Gold Buddha statue is almost 150 feet long. Felt very calm after coming out of the temple.

3. From there we took train and sky train to go to markets. Kids were very tired but after entering into the market everyone got into shopping spree. Vedhu bought sandals, I bought some over coats, Srini and Rathna bought some cloths too. We had coconut ice cream in the market. Taste of it is new and awesome – I liked it. We took return train, speed boat and went back to apartments as kids want to spend some time in swimming pool.

4. We all went to pool and played there. It was very good and kids forgot about how much they walked in the morning. Took ferry and went to Asiatique for dinner again. Today we went to a restaurant and ordered thai food. Enjoyed our dinner and came out to have massage.  Vedhu and Mns went for shopping. I bought few anklets and sat in front of river while Rathna went with kids as they want to play on hoverboard. We all met at 9:50 PM and hopped on to ferry to go home.