Visit of the Grand Palace

On Sunday, we decided to venture out with just the 3 of us to see the Grand Place, Wat Phra Kaeo, and Wat Pho. These temples and holy areas were along the river so we headed off on the BTS and then had to cab the rest of the way. With no pro Thai speakers, we had to do a little extra finger pointing at the map. We made it through traffic and down to the palace. The sign showed that it was only open another hour, but we decided to go in anyway. If we had more time we would've bought an English speaking guide and so I don't have a lot of the background on the pictures but they are still very interesting without the stories. Many of the figures on the outside of the buildings are demons and evil vultures. I think they are supposed to be keeping other evils out as well. Wat Phra Kaeo is one of the holiest Thai temples(wat) and it has the emerald Buddha which is supposed to bring great wealth and prosperity. Those sound good to me. Many of the buildings were decorated with bright gold and different statues. Along some of the outer walls there were paintings that were very detailed and interesting and looked like they were telling old mythical stories about different battles and time periods. The wall seemed to flow from one story to the next and it must have taken years to paint all of them. The Grand Palace was a nice looking building and we took some pictures with the guards. We couldn't go on some of the grounds because the Royal Family were in the residences. Also, we went to see the Wat Pho or the reclining Buddha. It is supposed to be one of the oldest and biggest Thai wat (the pics show how big it is). It was built in the 16th century during the Ayutthaya period, which we will be going to see more places of that period this weekend. This Buddha is supposed to bring a secure and peaceful life. After seeing all of the sites in the area along with the river, we headed back toward the hotel and called it a day.


Grand Palace and Temples Pictures