We are staying in this cute little Hostel called Steve's Boutique. This off the beaten track cubbyhole is situated in Bangkok Old Town by the pier, it's pretty basic but very peaceful.
So as you guys know we went on many Tuk Tuk trips during our time in Cambodia, and again as you know, they basically consisted of a carriage being towed by a moped.
Now we are in Bangkok, blimey how things have changed!
We are now riding passenger in the real deal!
The rickshaw Tuk Tuks are incredible. It seems like all the drivers here are in competition with each other to see who can 'pimp their ride' the most. They are all equipped with a big bore exhaust, alloy wheels, additional lights and whatever colour they seemed to want to paint it at the time.
Obviously the exhausts don't go down too well when you have had a heavy night on Khao San Road, downing cheap beer and you need to get around in the early hours of the following morning...but still pretty amazing.
Anyway less about the pimping ride and more about where we were heading on our first day in Thailand.
We thought we had made it very clear that we wanted to go to Wat Pho, the temple of the reclining Buddha, but we ended up getting dropped off at The Grand Palace, which was on our 'to do list' anyway so we weren't too fussed.
This is Thailands most sacred site. The beautiful surroundings and buildings had us in total awe from start to finish.
We'll let our pictures speak for themselves as this place is a must, it was just breathtaking!
Top Tips
▪️Warning Rant Alert!! Please be respectful. We know we've said this before but if they so no pictures, they mean no pictures. It says this in the temple that the Emerald Buddha sits. Hence why we unfortunatly don't have any pics. However, the amount of people, mostly Brits, we saw trying to sneakily take photos was not only a huge let down, but also shows massive disrespect to this culture. The symbol of Buddha is sacred here, so please, just enjoy the moment, enjoy what he stands for and don't get in trouble.
▪️Entrance Fee 500thb per person (around £10pp exchange rate May 2015)
▪️Opens at 9 Closes at 3.30
▪️There are no exceptions on clothing! You must wear a t-shirt that covers your shoulders and full length trousers, this applies to both boys and girls! Otherwise you'll be buying clothes from one of the surrounding markets, which from what we saw had bunked up prices. So cover up!
▪️Flip flops are a must! Shoes have to be removed to gain entry to many of the temples in the grounds, so flip flop it up for easy removal. Beardy lost his in Cambodia and struggled with Converse all day having to taking them on and off.
▪️The Grand Palace does have on site tour guides available, however it is very straight forward to direct yourself around so maybe save your Baht for something else. We personally like to explore on our own with no time limit. Sounds like an odd way of doing it we know, however we personally love coming back with a head full of questions that we can't wait to read up on in our own time, rather than being bombarded with info. Entirely up to you guys though.
No comments
Post a Comment