Wat Pho (1)

After a lovely lunch (boy, have we enjoyed Thai food?!) we visited Wat Pho, a less busy but equally impressive temple, right next door to the Grand Palace.

On the way we walked past this enormous banyan tree, with its complicated system of aerial roots

The five Dhyani buddhas

Yet another creature with a stone ball carved into its mouth. See how intrepid Tine is: she shows no fear!

We loved this Charlie Chaplinesque statue!

The Grand Palace (2)

More from the Grand Palace, a large complex of buildings built over the centuries.

This frieze is huge...

...with artists constantly renewing old paint and gold-leaf

How's this for topiary?

The ball in this creature's mouth was carved into the solid stone!

The Grand Palace (1)

The Grand Palace is the official residence of the King of Thailand, but nowadays it is only used for ceremonies and as a major tourist attraction.

I'll let the pictures do the talking...

Boat bus on the Chao Phraya River

One of our favourite activities was taking the boat bus with very convenient stops along the Chao Phraya River. They were busy at all times of day, some of the drivers enjoying thrilling the passengers with their sailing skills, and the 'conductors' bossing everyone around!

Standing room only!

A smaller longtail boat, with its noisy 'food mixer' propeller

Housing built on stilts all along the banks of the river...

...and a view of the Grand Palace.

In a park nearby our guesthouse a meeting of minds!

The beautiful smell of frangipani flowers is all over Thailand... 

...and is often used in offerings.

Around Wat Traimit

Not far from the station is Wat Traimit with its impressive Buddah, the largest solid gold statue in the world, 3 m high and weighing more than 5 tonnes. (Wat = temple in Thai, so you'll be seeing that word a few times in future posts!)

It was hard to get a good view as the temple is hemmed in between more recent buildings

The aforementioned Buddah

Buddhism is a part of everyday life for the Thais

Beautiful flowers at the base of the steps to the temple

A better view of the main 'stupa' with the gates to Chinatown in the foreground

The Thais are a very royalist people, with huge posters of the royal family everywhere

We wandered through the streets around Wat Traimit and found lots of workshops, each one with its own specialism

This one's for Cynthia (Coutret = Cooper in old Vendée)

Ugly but fascinating: a real tangle of overhead cables everywhere!

Arrival in Bangkok

After a long, long three aeroplane journey we were more than happy to arrive at the Sivarin Guest House, where Matt & Cynthia had stayed a couple of years ago. 

What a coincidence: the quote on the wall was from the passage in 'Le Petit Prince' that Tine read at Nadine & Simon's wedding!

The intrepid travellers were soon on the local bus across town to the station to book our overnight tickets to Chiang Mai later in the week. Cost? 7 baht (13p/15c) each

Scooters/mopeds were everywhere, often on the wrong side of the road!

We could hardly miss the station, but the town plan did help

Tuk-tuks awaiting clients at the side of the station... 

...but the best view of the station was from a great bar/restaurant opposite, our first of many Changs and our first taste of Thai food in Thailand!