A view of the Grand Palace and the Chao Phraya River from Wat Arun
pretty cool pants Bri
Grand Palace pix start here
My "tuk tuk" time with Joe ended mid afternoon when he dropped me off at the busiest tourist attraction in all of Thailand - the Grand Palace. I'll just let the pictures do the talking - an immense area filled with govn't buildings, temples and monuments. After that was a quick visit to Wat Arun - I accidentally found a little public dock where ferries shuttle people back and forth across the Chao Phraya River - and that dock happened to be close to this Wat. I finally ended my tour with a visit to the reclining Bhudda or Wat Po.
After taking in a few of the nearby sights that evening - the Democracy Monument, Wat Ratcha naddaram, and the Golden Mount - followed by a great nights sleep at Rikkas Guest House - I was up early in the morn and tracked down a government tuk tuk driver named Joe to take me on a tour of the sights in the downtown district. What I didn't realize about Joe is that even though the rates for this service were unbelievable (20 baht - about $0.60 cdn - for what ended up to be over 5 hours) part of his "job" was to make sure clients get to various markets, gem stores, tailors, etc. in a hope that tourists support Thailand businesses, and of course Joe gets a nice little commission for each client he brings whether they purchase items or not!! Needless to say I ended up spending a good portion of my day in many places I didn't care to be! And did I mention earlier in my blog that I did pick up a nice custom made suit and a pretty little ring for my granddaughter.......so their strategy evidently works!!
Well as much as I talked about the impossibility of accurately conveying the beauty of the Krabi area in a few pics.......the same impossibility holds true for Bangkok in terms of it's size, diversity of culture and just plain number of things to see and experience! A totally amazing city.......in spite of the pollution and it's unforgettable fragrances!!
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