Jan 28 Grand Palace and Venice of the East

This is our 5th or 6th "Venice of the East", not counting the one in Florida. There are canals and boats so I suppose it qualifies.
We took the tour bus to the Grand palace.

An amazing place, built by King Rama I in 1782 and enlarged by subsequent monarchs. There are over 100 buildings.

The current King of Thailand does not live here, but at Chitlada palace a short distance away. We didn't see that. Strict dress code, Bob had to wear long pants, bare feet not allowed but you have to take off your shoes to enter Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha). Go figure. Wat Phra Kaew's claim to fame is a 31 inch Buddha image carved from a single piece of jade. No photos allowed so you'll have to take my word for it.

These folks are dipping the flowers into the water and dripping it on their heads. Forget why.

And this guy is cutting the
grass with clippers wearing a uniform.











After the Palace we got on a boat. The Chao Phraya River was pretty rough and it was high tide so the trip was interesting.

She looks like she thinks she might not make it.....not sure what she's selling.









They first took us to feed the catfish in front of a temple. These catfish are protected from being caught by virtue of the fact that they live in front of a temple. Point of interest....every male Thai over the age of 12 becomes a monk at some time (of his choosing) in his life. Some of the catfish are reported to weigh over 10 pounds. No wonder, tourists feed them bread all day.
Next stop to see the Royal Barges, capitalization seemed indicated here. The Royal barges are long, fantastically decorated boats used in ceremonial processions on the river, The largest is 164 feet long and requires a rowing crew of 50 men, seven umbrella bearers, two navigators (seems like overkill), a flagman, two helmsmen, a chanter and a rhythm keeper. Must be something to see.
Lunch was next.

This is the restaurant.








Val will be glad to hear that we really liked it. So, assuming it was authentic Thai, we can have it again. While we were lunching it started to rain, came down in torrents and we had to get back on the boat. They kept us there as long as they could and used the umbrellas from the outdoor tables to help but by the time we were back on the boat we were pretty wet. It wasn't bad considering a couple hours earlier we were so hot we were looking for rain.
Next stop, in the rain, was Wat Arun, Temple of dawn. The 269 foot "prang" (Khmer-style tower) was constructed during the first half of the 19th century. Boat back to the bus, which was late due to traffic, then back to the ship.
Dinner buffet was English. Fish and chips, bangers and mash, roast beef and yorkshire pudding. Yum!
Early day tomorrow, our last tour leaves at 7:30. We're going to the floating market.