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While the American revolution was brewing and raging, what is now Northern Thailand was embroiled in various conflicts ending with the moving of the seat of power to Bangkok. King Rama I began the Chakri dynasty with the construction of the royal palace in Bangkok (King Rama X is the current king of Thailand, though they no longer inhabit the same royal residence).
The royal palace is an expansive grounds surrounded by a high, white wall. The highlight of the grounds is definitely Wat Phra Kaew, the temple of the emerald Buddha (and the surrounding buildings and adornments). I do wish that in all the buildup to seeing the eponymous 1st century (if legend is to be believed) statue, someone had mentioned it is tiny. At a little over 2 feet tall, I was more than a little shocked that among the land of enormous Buddhas (including one we saw later that day) the 66 centimeter statue is king. Or at least the king's. It also has a different outfit for each season, but only the king is allowed to change it. Which if it wasn't a pivotal piece of religious iconography would certainly generate some comedic comparison to a box-office topping movie from this past year centered on a certain flexibly-atirable mononymed heroine. But it is. So it doesn't.
Phra Si Rattana Chedi -
Two familiar reflections in Phra Si Rattana Chedi on the grounds of the National Palace.
Some detailed conservation work with the tiniest brush on a large mural on the grounds of Wat Phra Kaew
Bangkok was really a magpie's dream, can you believe all this gold,colored glass, and mother-of-pearl doors?!?! Unfortunately, no pictures allowed inside with the Emerald Buddha!
Red and green Giant Yaksha (nature spirits) standing guard outside the temple gate of Wat Phra Kaew
There are SO many buildings on the grounds of Wat Phra Kaew (not to mention the grounds of the Grand Palace) that we couldn't tell you what each of these spires are, but here's a link to the Wikipedia page which has a great map at the bottom of the History section, for reference we believe you are standing to the left (north) of 9 on the map: wikipedia link
After an early lunch, we continued onto Wat Pho, famous for its large reclining Buddha. The multicolored glass mosaic the covers the exterior is quite a sight as well!
A quick water taxi across the river brought us to Wat Arun. With a more vertical, chedi-centered construction than other Wats we had seen, it is majestic as seen from the river and imposing as seen from the base.
After grab back to, and a rest back at, the hotel, we rewarded our morning's dogged pursuit of Wats with a Thai massage: at the same location where the most recent season of The Amazing Race had a challenge! While I'm not prepared to fully denounce its possible therapeutic properties, the forced stretching, suplexing, and intense,localized pressure were a high price to pay for the post-massage feel.
We returned to the lovely streetfood spot on our hotel's block and watched world-famous chef Jay Fai cook for a while before retiring for the evening.
Really hard to photograph the huge reclining Buddha in Wat Pho, but here is our attempt! One of the most common poses for a statue of Buddha, it depicts the Buddha on his death bed (from eating bad pork) before achieving nirvana in his last incarnation.
Impressive Mother of Pearl work on the feet of the reclining Buddha
Trying to share (read: steal) a little shade from our neighbors in line for the water taxi to Wat Arun.
Wat Arun! The popular activity here was to rent traditional Thai outfits and take photos around the temple (as seen at right)
Back to our favorite restaurant in Bangkok (that you didn't have to wait in line for starting at 7am)!
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