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Today we woke up at 6.45am ready to set off early to the Grand Palace, We left about seven thirty after I had some lovely fruit and veg juice and some fruit and Steven munched marmite on toast. We hit the sky train that took us as far as the national stadium leaving us with a good four and a half km to get to the palace... Most intelligent folk would then get a taxi or tuk tuk but not us... We walked. We walked the whole way passing a Tesco (which we promised to delve in to later) and it was quite a walk but it was also a nice walk. Took us about forty five mins and we passed many hidden treasures including the Giant Swing. The Giant Swing is also known as Sao Ching Cha and stands in front of the Wat Suthat temple. It was originally constructed in 1784 although has been reconstructed and moved several times. It was used in old Brahmin (Hindu priests) ceremonies... Apparently according to Hindu epics Brahma sent Shiva to look after the world after he had finished creating it... On his arrival to earth Shiva found Naga serpents wrapped around the mountains to hold the earth together, after he was happy that the earth was solid the serpents moved to the seas in celebration. The Giant Swing represents this in the ceremonies that are put on to re-enactment this tale. The large pillars represent the mountains while the circular bases represent the earth. In the ceremony the Brahmins would swing to try and grab a bag of coins that were suspended from the swing. This no longer takes place due to fatalities.
The Giant Swing stands in the middle of traffic and its quite an imposing sight... It looks very much like a tori gate and is very cool. After we looked at this for a while we kept walking. We were then stopped by a friendly guy who told us that the road ahead was blocked due to protests at the army... Much trouble apparently! So we should turn right at next street. We thanked him for his information and carried on... We didn't turn right and kept walking straight, there was no protest or army and goodness knows what could have occurred had we turned right. It wasn't long before we were in front of the grand palace although we had actually found ourselves more to the left of it and in front of Wat Po. This is a large Buddhist temple that houses the reclining Buddha. It is named Wat Po after the monastery in India where Buddha lived although its official name is Wat Phra Chettuphon Wimon Mangkhlaram Ratchaworamahawihan... Quite a mouthful. The temple is also the birth place of traditional thai massage and offers them on site. Before entering I put on my long maxi skirt and long sleeved top (no wrists or ankles is the rule in the Grand Palace but I wasn't going to take a chance here either).
The temple complex is huge and one of the largest wats in Thailand... It also houses the largest collection of Buddha images (statues) at over one thousand and the longest at over 160ft. They are stunning and look incredible all lined up through out the complex. The place is a lot more peaceful then the grand palace and I think I actually preferred it. When you enter the main hall that houses the reclining Buddha all you can say (in the words of our good friend Finbar) is wow, wow, wow! It is breath taking. In front if you is this huge 43 meter long and 15 meter high gold Buddha... It's just amazing and the first thing in Thailand so far to just blow us away. After all the temples we have seen over the last ten weeks we were feeling a bit templed out but this totally renewed the enthusiasm in me! It was beautiful... The feet alone are huge... Bit like my self and inlaid with beautiful and intricate mother of pearl designs. We seemed to be in there for ages just standing and staring and saying wow ...a lot.
After the Buddha we walked around the complex and picked up our free bottle of water and I used their very nice and very clean loos (was very surprised... Temples don't have the best track records of nice toilets) no squatting or anything. We then sat and admired all the beautiful and glittering finishes to the roof and doors. The temple is being renovated which I know is vital to its future but I always kinda feel that it spoils the feel of the place when everything is all shiny and new. In a few years this place will look like its just been built.
After Wat Po we walked around the complex to the Grand Palace which is situated opposite. We were approached by a tuk tuk driver who informed us the palace wasn't open till much later as it was a Buddhist holiday but he could show us some places in the mean time... This is a very common scam and although we had heard of it I never actually thought we would hear it... I had to laugh and tell him nice try before we walked on. Once we reached the Grand Palace we seriously debated how much we wanted to see it as their were people everywhere!! After a while sitting in the shade and debating however we decided to persevere and bought the tickets. They were an extortionate 500 baht each... which is about ten pound fifty (free to locals). We queued up and headed in, I was glad I dressed appropriately as women were being turned away for showing their ankles and had to go back to the entrance to get a sarong (that still didn't cover the ankles) and people we buying crazy baggy thai trousers to wear. However after entering you realise that this rule isn't really imposed that strongly and its wether your face fits... Here I was covered from head to toe while there were three quarter length trousers and vest tops everywhere... Especially on thai women.
The palace is beautiful and in a very similar style to Wat Po but probably twice the size if not more. There is gold leaf covered statues everywhere and jewels and gems as far as the eye can see... It is very striking. There are murals painted on the length of one wall with worshipers chanting close by, its truly a sight and the murals are stunning. I was overwhelmed and couldn't take enough pictures. There is a mini Angor watt as well as numerous temples with large Buddha within. The most striking however is that of the emerald Buddha, this Buddha is housed within a chapel (not a temple as there are no monks housed there) and its amazing. Your not allowed to take photos inside as its an active praying chapel and at 45cm tall and so high up on gold and jewels you can hardly see The buddha at all... He is though very striking. The Buddha isn't actually made of emerald but jade. The story of his existence began in 43BC in India... He was created and then moved from place to place including Sri Lanka and Burma (Myanmar) before he was taken to Lao by the reigning king, where it remained for hundreds of years before returning to Thailand after they occupied the Lao city in which he was habited. During his life of travels, he was lost and then found by some local people. He was originally believed to be made of stone but when the plaster chipped off the nose it revealed a bright green underneath which was believed to be emerald... However once the coating was removed it was seen that he was actually made of jade, however the name stuck. The Buddha is housed in a case and wears different cold coverings depending on the season... As its winter now he is wearing a large gold cloak so only his head is seen... You can see his other gold coverings in the museum.
After we wandered around the palace for a good few hours we began to feel very lethargic, we hadn't eaten since breakfast and had walked miles. We had seen hundreds of Buddhas as well as temples, murals, weaponry and thrones and now we were pooped. On the way out we came across a small museum dedicated to Thailand's Queen Sirikit, who has set up numerous foundations to help local people including one called SUPPORT which helps weavers. It was a lovely place with lots of her outfits and dresses on display as well as a jacket she gave to a poor weaver in rural Thailand along with the ladies story... Was very moving. We had a gander before heading to the palace museum and finally out of the doors... By now our enthusiasm and energy were both zilch.
We headed in the direction of the famous Khao San Road which is backpackers Mecca full of bars and cheap hostels. We were starving and wanted a cool beer so off we went... It wasn't long before we knew we were close to this now infamous street as wandering past us were very stereotypical backpacking types. The street itself isn't very long, maybe half a mile but along both sides crammed in is hundreds of bars, restaurants, fast food chains and stalls trying to flog anything to you.
We walked down and to be honest have never felt so out of place lol... The girls were all in tiny tops and cut off denim shorts and the guys all had vests, scraggy hair and baggy pants. We found a lady selling pad thai for thirty baht so bought one each before finding a quiet spot to eat. We then looked for somewhere for a cold beer and some people watching (I loooove people watching!). We eventually settled on one after realising that beer was not going to be cheap here and sat down. The elderly gentlman that ran the place was very friendly and quickly produced two large Chang beers. We chilled out... Rested our aching feet and tried to avoid eye contact with every tout or seller that passed by. We enjoyed watching the craziness of the street but can't really see the appeal of it... To be honest it just reminded me of some dodgy 18-30s holiday and Steven had never felt so out of place, maybe we are just getting old... But to be honest I think its the sort of place you either love or hate.
After supping our beer we headed home passing by a Burger King to use the ladies (the bar we were in even charge you to pee). Steven was then flabbergasted to see that the Burger King here was more expensive then home. We headed off in the direction of the sky train and eventually reached it... After a massive detour in to Tesco's which was amazing and we bought even more fruit and some munchies for Steven. We then headed home. Once in we showed first and foremost then made some tea... Steven had noodles, rice and a thai omelette and I had some noodles and an apple... Yummy! We then headed to bed as we were pooped and I had a lovely catch up with Lacey before promptly falling asleep.
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