Si's Year Out! (Plus Europe! Plus Morocco!): Scam Dodging and The Grand Palace!

The plan for the following day was to see the Grand Palace area and then to travel south to Phuket by train....

We checked out of our hotel and headed for the Grand Palace. On the way a guy started chatting to us, saying he was an English student and that he would soon be doing some time as a monk. He asked us where we were going and told us that the grand palace was closed for a Bhuddist holiday and would only be open in the evening. He then suggested some other places to go and told us that tuk tuks with yellow number plates were government cars and cheaper on this holiday. Surprise, surprise, one happened to turn up as he was speaking to us!! He even got bartered down the guy's price for taking us around to the places he suggested. Although he sounded genuine, I was convinced it was a scam but the others wanted to go and, as the car price was so cheap (about 70p for three of us), I thought it couldn't hurt to go check it out. The first place we went was a temple with a huge golden buddha statue inside. It was quite impressive and made me wonder if I was wrong about the guy's motives. However, on the way to the second place, the guy kept trying to stop at places where people nagged us to buy stuff! In the end I made him take us back to the Grand Palace which, surprisingly, was open!

The Grand Palace was where the king lived (until the current king, who just stays there on occassion), and the compound contains the kings private temples of worship, which are the only Bhuddist temples in Thailand that don't have monks living in them. Forgetting everything my book had told me I was wearing shorts, which aren't allowed in the compound. I had to borrow a pair of the most ridiculos green trousers you've ever seen.....but I wasn't the only one! When we got in we paid for a guide to walk us around and tell us about the history of the place, he really knew his stuff! I could write all day about it but one of the most interesting things was the emerald Buddha (a Buddha statue actually made of jade) that was encased in plaster for a while, stolen by different countries, and then struck by lightening, cracking the plaster around the nose and revealing the treasure inside.

The temple buildings were some of the most spectacular buildings I've ever seen in my life. They are covered in gold-leaf and glistening mosaic tiles that look like precious gemstones. Everything is perfect, down to the trees and grass inside. We were allowed to go inside the temple that houses the Emerald Buddha (not allowewd to take pictures or wear shoes!) and I was amazed at the amount of gold and gems inside!

After the temples we went to the actual Grand Palace and walked around the grounds. The palace was again spectacular and there were 'whitecoats' (like redcoats but wearing white obviosly) with big bayonetts (was scary taking a picture of them incase they knifed me!).

Me and a street seller on Kho San Road, she was trying to get me to buy the amazing hat....

A cool looking rounderbout at night

How to serve a drink in Thailand - Fill a bag with ice, pour drink into bag, add straw, refreshing!

This was inside the first temple we went to on the scam run...

...and the outside of said temple

The big Buddha!

Me standing next to it to give it some scale

Me, Andre and Matt just before we went into the grand palace showing off our loverly rental trousers!

Us again near the temples

The roofs of the temple buildings were amazing

This is a Cambodian-style roof

This is a Thai-style roof

This is an Indonesian-style roof

There were lots of amazing trees in the compound

The temple that housed the Jade Buddha was under repair, that meant lots of new gold leaf!

These lions stand at the front of the temple housing the Jand Buddha

We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the temple but I got this one from the outside. You can just about see the Jade Buddha at the top of a lot of gold!