Bangkok – the Tour

Before coming to Bangkok we’d pondered the best way to see the sights – should we book through the Rotary flagged supplier, sould we take a chance when we got here – how would we know if we’d been done.  In the end we followed reviews on TripAdvisor and contacted Chob Panma (http://www.thaitourguide.com).  We took his tour BT1, The Royal Grand Palace & The Royal Temple + City + Temple Tour.  Collected at our hotel by our guide Ms Pu and a driver we were taken in turn to  

The Royal Grand Palace & The Royal Temple (Wat Phra Kaew, The Temple of the Emerald Buddha), Wat Pho (The Temple of The Reclining Buddha).   

After lunch at a relaxed restaurant – selections suggested by our guide we took a Canal tour by private Long Tail Boat.  Returning to the river later we passed by Wat Arun (The Temple of Dawn) before disembarking to pass through the Pak Klong Talad (Flowers & Vegetables Market).

This doesn’t actually sound like a big itinerary until you realise that the first stop at the Royal Grand Palace and Temple takes nearly three hours – there’s just so much to see and wonder at.  Exquisite workmanship (under constant attention for repair and refurbishment), stunning imagery. 

Building commenced in 1782, when Bangkok became the new capital of the country.  The building housing what is now known as the Emerald Buddha came first and the murals in the surrounding monastery date from the first King Ram’s reign (1782-1809) although they are have been refurbished many times since.   Successive kings, all called Rama, confusingly, have built additions to the Temple. The Grand Palace itself is a mixture of British & Thai architecture – built in 1882 it is no longer the King’s residence but is used for ceremonial occasions.

Wat Pho, the Reclining Buddha is simply huge – 46 meters long and 15 metres high.  Of brick and plaster construction it is finished in gold leaf. Mother-of-pearlinlays on the feet display the 108 different auspicious characteristics of a Buddha (apparently!).  The complex also contains hundreds, if not thousands of Buddhas reclaimed from abandoned temples elsewhere in the country.

After all that we were definitely Buddha’d out and the afternoon’s canal trip was a decided welcome change.