Bangkok (Take II)

So after leaving the idyllic setting of Koh Tao, we arived back in Bangkok for a quick 24 hour stay, before we head off to Vietnam.We arrived in the early hours of the morning and found a place to put our heads down for the night.

Unlike the last failed attempt, we got up early (ish) and decided to see the sights of Bangkok. The first on the list was the Grand Palace (a former Royal Residence and Home of the Emerald Budha). We had heard stories of the locals scamming you by saying that it was closed and that they could show you a whole host of different sights. This was true, but we side stepped them and went in anyway.

Unbeknown to us the day we decided to go was a semi public/religious holiday, so the place was busy. But it was an experience. In a relatively small space there were a mass of different shaped shrines, temples and monuments, dedicated to various aspects of the Buddhist religion. These were just so opulent, covered in gold , jewels and massive in size.

After this we decided to walk through town and head for the flower market, but half way there we discovered from a local that it was closed (no genuinely it was closed this tim). However what he did tell us that the semi public/religeous holiday meant that all the Government owned tuk-tuks were only 40 baht for a whole day (that about 90p) - so in we hopped and went on a whistle stop 4 hours tour of various temples and budhas.

We ended the day mooching round town again and packing our things ready for an early start.