This was probably our most exhausting day! I was so tired at the end of the day that I actually fell asleep before I could write in my journal.
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Our day began with a 5:00 wake up call.
Breakfast was at 6:00.
We left our hotel at 7:00.
Our tour guide, Dare had a sweet parting gift for us. His mother-in-law made large packages of tasty rice crackers for each of us. We saved it to bring with us to Bangladesh to have with our son. Yes, we did give him a nice additional tip for his services. (Evan, our tour coordinator in Hawaii told us that all country tour guides are already tipped by Vietnam Travel ahead of time.)
Dare regaled us with more jokes all the way to the airport. Hmmm... maybe we should have given an even bigger extra tip.
We were met by our Bangkok tour guide, Ms. Lucky.
We'd heard some rather disturbing news reports of violence in Bangkok with people being killed in government protests. We saw signs of the struggles. Barricades were still evident on the streets but Ms. Lucky seemed unconcerned.
We went directly from the airport to the Grand Palace.
We saw tuk tuks here too. They were similar to the ones in Cambodia.
Grand Palace
The Grand Palace is a complex of buildings at the heart of Bangkok, Thailand. The palace has been the official residence of the Kings of Siam (and later Thailand) since 1782. The king, his court and his royal government were based on the grounds of the palace until 1925. The present monarch, King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX), currently resides at Chitralada Palace, but the Grand Palace is still used for official events.
-- Wikipedia
Those of our tour group who were wearing shorts had to rent long pants to enter the complex.
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It's unfortunate that Ms. Lucky left us mostly to our own devices. We didn't always know what we were looking at. Still, it was all very grand... very gold... very glittering.
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And it was very impressive.
The large gold stupa is supposed to contain some relics of the Buddha.
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The detail on the decorations were absolutely eye catching and mind boggling.
We couldn't take enough photos... but we tried.
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I didn't realize we would be going to all these sites directly from the airport so I didn't have my larger camera with me. I had to make do with my tiny point and shoot. However, between Art and me we managed to take enough photos.
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It was an extremely HOT day and I didn't have my umbrella with me.
Doggone it!
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This is a scale model of Angkor Wat. This giant monitor went scuttling by us. Ms. Lucky told us that they do eat monitors in Thailand.
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I was glad we were able to have a group photo taken in front of the Grand Palace (Chakri Maha Prasat) so I could remember everybody. I have been blurring out people's faces who were not comfortable being on a blog.
Below is the Aphorn Phimok Prasat Pavilion. Art had to research what all these places were on the Internet when we returned to Hawaii because we really had no idea then what we were looking at.
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Ms. Lucky forgot her cellphone on the bus when it drove off. She therefore couldn't tell the bus driver where to meet us.
Her solution was to put us into these teeny tuk tuks to take us to our restaurant for lunch. Can you believe Art and I, along with Mike and Julia rode in the back seat of this tuk tuk? Mike must be over 6 feet tall. We were quite cozy! It's a good thing we like each other!
The restaurant was on this ship.
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The buffet lunch was lovely and restful. We needed to sit down.
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We got back on the boat and headed to the Temple of Dawn. We saw a huge poster of the king and his heir in their younger days. The king is 86 years old and the queen is 81 but is said to look half her age.
This is a view of the Temple of Dawn from the river.
Little did I know I'd soon be climbing up to that high tower.
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Wai Arun Ratchawararam Ratchawaramahawihan or Wat Arun "Temple of Dawn" is a Buddhist temple (wat) in Bangkok Yai district of Bangkok, Thailand, on the Thonburi west bank of the Chao Phraya River. The temple derives its name from the Hindu god Aruna often personified as the radiations of the rising sun. Wat Arun is among the best known of Thailand's landmarks and the first light of the morning reflects off the surface of the temple with pearly iridescence.
--Wikipedia
"You can do it," coaxed Art cajoling me to make the climb.
I just made sure I didn't look down.
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We emailed this photo to our little granddaughter, KC. She used to always give us the "I love you" hand sign from the time she was about four years old. We try to remember to do this whenever we go abroad.
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Then we went from the boat onto a bus to our next stop!
The Golden Buddha
It is 5.5 tons of SOLID gold!
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The Golden Buddha, officially titled Phra Phuttha Maha Suwan Patimakon is the world's largest solid gold statue. It is located in the temple of Wat Traimit, Bangkok. --Wikipedia
The Golden Buddha was definitely impressive and very shiny.
The bus took us to The Reclining Buddha next.
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Wat Pho is a Buddhist temple in Phra Nakhon district, Bangkok, Thailand. It is located in the Rattanakosin district directly adjacent to the Grand Palace. Known also as the Temple of the Reclining Buddha, its official name is Wat Phra Chettuphon Wimon Mangkhlaram Ratchaworamahawihan.
--Wikipedia
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The statue is concrete covered in gold leaf. It's HUGE!!!
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There were more barricades on the Bangkok streets.
We were so tired, I'd have settled for fast food and an early bed time.
It was not to be.
We had a Thai dinner at Silom Village Restaurant. The food was OK...
and there was another cultural dance show.
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Breakfast was at 6:00.
We left our hotel at 7:00.
Our tour guide, Dare had a sweet parting gift for us. His mother-in-law made large packages of tasty rice crackers for each of us. We saved it to bring with us to Bangladesh to have with our son. Yes, we did give him a nice additional tip for his services. (Evan, our tour coordinator in Hawaii told us that all country tour guides are already tipped by Vietnam Travel ahead of time.)
Dare regaled us with more jokes all the way to the airport. Hmmm... maybe we should have given an even bigger extra tip.
We were met by our Bangkok tour guide, Ms. Lucky.
We'd heard some rather disturbing news reports of violence in Bangkok with people being killed in government protests. We saw signs of the struggles. Barricades were still evident on the streets but Ms. Lucky seemed unconcerned.
We went directly from the airport to the Grand Palace.
We saw tuk tuks here too. They were similar to the ones in Cambodia.
Grand Palace
The Grand Palace is a complex of buildings at the heart of Bangkok, Thailand. The palace has been the official residence of the Kings of Siam (and later Thailand) since 1782. The king, his court and his royal government were based on the grounds of the palace until 1925. The present monarch, King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX), currently resides at Chitralada Palace, but the Grand Palace is still used for official events.
-- Wikipedia
Those of our tour group who were wearing shorts had to rent long pants to enter the complex.
It's unfortunate that Ms. Lucky left us mostly to our own devices. We didn't always know what we were looking at. Still, it was all very grand... very gold... very glittering.
And it was very impressive.
The large gold stupa is supposed to contain some relics of the Buddha.
The detail on the decorations were absolutely eye catching and mind boggling.
We couldn't take enough photos... but we tried.
It was an extremely HOT day and I didn't have my umbrella with me.
Doggone it!
Below is the Aphorn Phimok Prasat Pavilion. Art had to research what all these places were on the Internet when we returned to Hawaii because we really had no idea then what we were looking at.
Ms. Lucky forgot her cellphone on the bus when it drove off. She therefore couldn't tell the bus driver where to meet us.
Her solution was to put us into these teeny tuk tuks to take us to our restaurant for lunch. Can you believe Art and I, along with Mike and Julia rode in the back seat of this tuk tuk? Mike must be over 6 feet tall. We were quite cozy! It's a good thing we like each other!
The restaurant was on this ship.
The buffet lunch was lovely and restful. We needed to sit down.
We got back on the boat and headed to the Temple of Dawn. We saw a huge poster of the king and his heir in their younger days. The king is 86 years old and the queen is 81 but is said to look half her age.
This is a view of the Temple of Dawn from the river.
Little did I know I'd soon be climbing up to that high tower.
--Wikipedia
"You can do it," coaxed Art cajoling me to make the climb.
I just made sure I didn't look down.
We emailed this photo to our little granddaughter, KC. She used to always give us the "I love you" hand sign from the time she was about four years old. We try to remember to do this whenever we go abroad.
Then we went from the boat onto a bus to our next stop!
The Golden Buddha
It is 5.5 tons of SOLID gold!
The Golden Buddha was definitely impressive and very shiny.
The bus took us to The Reclining Buddha next.
Wat Pho is a Buddhist temple in Phra Nakhon district, Bangkok, Thailand. It is located in the Rattanakosin district directly adjacent to the Grand Palace. Known also as the Temple of the Reclining Buddha, its official name is Wat Phra Chettuphon Wimon Mangkhlaram Ratchaworamahawihan.
--Wikipedia
There were more barricades on the Bangkok streets.
We were so tired, I'd have settled for fast food and an early bed time.
It was not to be.
We had a Thai dinner at Silom Village Restaurant. The food was OK...
and there was another cultural dance show.
We fell into bed around 11:00. Half of our tour group were so exhausted that they decided to skip the following day's activities to have a more restful, last day in Bangkok.
Us? Are you kidding? Art would never let exhaustion stop him!
