Wat Traimit Temple - one of the many temples I came across on my walk-about
Wat Traimit Temple
Flag of Thailand
ChinaTown Street
ChinaTown Route - came across on my walk
ChinaTown
Water Taxi
A view from the water taxi
External View of the Grand Palace
Walking in the gates of the Grand Palace
Great pictures today
A lot of detail and many structures
One of the main complexes
Interesting sites
All kinds of towers
Those umbrellas are not for rain
A maze of buildings
Story-book images
Can't stop taking pictures
Walking to the Reclining Buddha outside the walls of the Grand Palace
One of the government building I believe
Reclining Buddha
Best shot I could get of the Reclining Buddha
Interesting
Back view of the Reclining Buddha
Complex of Wat Pho
Located at one of the entrance gates
Tons of pillars
I like this shot
On my way to the metro to go home
Chatuchak Market
Plants/flower displays today
Rows and rows of vendors
Jam-packed day of action in Bangkok, Thailand. I walked the better part of the city for hours touring the many sites. One of the things I learned today -- maps can be very deceiving when it comes to distance. I underestimated a little bit today.
Bangkok has a great train system and also has water taxis on the Chao Phraya River. The only thing about the trains - they don't go to the main downtown area where the bulk of the tour sites are located. There are tons of taxis and tuk-tuks (3-wheeled mechanical carts used exclusively throughout the city) accessible for travel. I decided I would take the metro to the last stop nearest downtown, and then I would just walk the rest. My goal was to either walk or take the water taxi - no standard taxis or tuk-tuks.
Um - maybe not the brightest idea I ever came up with. It was upper 90's, no wind. It felt like it was 110 deg F (in the shade). I started off good, but somehow got turned around. Next thing I know, I realize I had gone a couple mile in the wrong direction. But, at least I was headed toward the river. I was fine - I had access to food and water all over the place. I was drinking water like I may not ever see it again. The people on the tuk-tuks were following me around begging me to get into their cart. I gave them the Heisman - I would make it to the river. Finally - I see water! Now I could get my bearings. Water taxi ahead! Really - it was all good. I walked through ChinaTown, and a lot of weird streets all over Bangkok. I doubt I would have ever seen half of these places if not choosing to go on foot -- and, I needed a long run/walk for training purposes.
The water taxi was great. They have several stops going up and down the Chao Phraya River. I took this to the main site I wanted to see today (and one of the main tourist draws in all of Thailand) - the Grand Palace.
The Grand Palace is basically the size of a city block. It's a complex series of buildings, halls, and pavillions set around open lawns, gardens and courtyards ---- all within an external wall enclosure. The Grand Palace was the official residence of the Kings of Siam (and later Thailand) starting in 1782. The king, his court and his royal government were based on the grounds until 1925. The present monarch, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, currently resides elsewhere, but the Grand Palace is still used for official events. Several royal ceremonies and state functions are held within the walls of the palace every year. It really was an impressive site. I walked around for a couple hours just trying to take it all in. Pictures were great today - with blue skies and white clouds.
After the Grand Palace, I walked over to Wat Pho (Temple of the Reclining Buddha). Wat Pho is a Buddhist Temple with the largest collection of Buddha images in Thailand. It is associated with King Roma I who rebuilt the temple complex on an earlier temple site, and became his main temple where some of his ashes are enshrined. The temple was later expanded and extensively renovated by Rama III. The Reclining Buddha was 46 meters long (about 1/2 a football field). It was encased in this smaller complex - sort of difficult to get a good picture. Really interesting stuff! I have my fair share of Buddha sites so far on the trip.
After seeing more of downtown, I decided to walk back to the metro stop I got off on earlier today. Smooth this time -- direct line, no mistakes. Took me about 1.5 hours to walk it. I then took the air-conditioned metro to an area of town to see a popular market - the Chatuchak Market. This is known for its weekend display - but today they had a number of plants and food vendors out in the same stalls. I walked around a bit --- I can only imagine the influx of people on the weekends.
I took the metro back to my area of town and walked a bit further. I located a couple hotels pointed out in my "1,000 Things Book". Back to the hotel, a quick shower, then out for a dinner and a couple drinks.
Really good day in Bangkok!
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