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Nikki
The next morning we set off for a short walk to the Imperial Palace and Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha). It was also the second Buddha Day and a public holiday - the streets around the temple were heaving. We squeezed through the crowds, of mostly Japanese tourists who wield their sun umbrellas at eye level with amazing accuracy. Inside the temple temple grounds the crush of the crowds and din of the traffic subsided and we felt relieved to have made it with both eyeballs...
Once inside a security guard told Annie that her top was not acceptable and that she would have to buy a shirt from across the road. So Annie braved the crowds again and got a new shirt with sleeves. Thai Temples request visitors to dress conservatively/respectfully and cover shoulders, legs and this temple even requested shoes and no sandals.
This Wat (Temple) is probably the most interesting and beautiful in Bangkok, to see it all and get insight into the history we hired a guide (called Tip) for a couple of hours. She showed us the main temple first as it was 11:45 and was due to close at 12:00. So we had made it just in time to see the main attraction the Emerald Buddha. Inside the Temple we sat on the floor with our feet behind us as it is disrespectful for your bare feet to be shown to Buddha. Emerald Buddha was sitting in lotus position in a gold Pagoda on the top of a pyramid like altar, dressed in golden robes and crown. Tip explained that today was the first day of the wet season for Thailand. To symbolise this the Crown Prince will come to the Wat at midday and change the clothes of Buddha from the current Dry Season to the Wet Season. This happens 3 times a year for cold, dry and wet seasons.
The rest of the tour was a bit of a whirlwind with so much to cover and in the midday heat we were exhausted by the end of it. We saw the three huge stuppas of the temple each very different architecture from each other showing Sri Lankan, Thai and Ankorian design. There was a Thai version of the Hindu epic Ramayana, the endless mural stretched along walls. The Imperial Palace is next door to the temple - the temple used to be for Royal use until the King decided to open it to the public. Nik and Annie had a photo taken with a palace guard, Nik doing a mock salute standing next to the guard who couldn't move to see why the crowd gathered around were laughing.
We left the temple and headed to a cheap little restaurant by the river and had some rice and pork with a lot of chilly. Yum! Refreshed after a little rest we wandered through some antique markets back towards Khao San Rd. It was evening by the time we made it back, we went back to the cafe we found the night before for a few sneaky beers (it was the second Buddha Day so officially no beer allowed) and watch Dodge Ball, a movie I found hilarious but I don't think the girls did. Later we ate at a sea food restaurant who bbq'd us a heap of giant prawns, they were fantastic!
We had an early start the next morning to catch the bus to Koh Chang so decided not to go back to the cafe for more Chang (Thai cheap beer, tastes nice but evil hangover).
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