Tropical - Warm Water
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Tropical - Warm Water
Equipment,
Links, Info
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  We
arrived at the Sofitel Silom Hotel located on Silom Road in the Silom
section of Bangkok. It was 9 pm and the rooms weren't ready
yet. We went to dinner in the hotel for which we were not
charged because of
the room situation. The buffet dinner of a variety of ethnic
foods was excellent and dessert was a fountain of chocolate with fruit
for dipping like the one pictured here. We then headed out to the internet store for some computer time and
I bought a phone card at
a 7-11 so I could call home.
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  The next morning we headed
out to the Chao Phraya River to catch the public boat up river to see the grand
palace. Our first encounter with a scam artist occurred within
minutes of leaving the hotel. This man said that he was on his way to the
hospital on the other side of the river to visit his first born baby. He was excited and guided us to the wrong
dock, the one with the more expensive private boat tour which he
wanted us to buy. And yet we
weren't clued in when we passed a sign along the way while
walking to the boat to watch out for scams. Anyway, we did make our way over to the
next dock and boarded the orange line public boat.
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  There
were signs along the side of the boat that said that this was a standing
area for monks. We passed old homes along the river.
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  We
also saw long tail boats on the river.
When we arrived at the Grand Palace, a man in a uniform came out from a booth and told us it was closed until 1pm for special ceremonies. We should go see some other temple in another neighborhood - blah blah blah. Another scammer. We went off and found our way instead to two other temples in the area. We arrived back at the palace and someone else told us that the palace was closed until 2 pm. We then realized the palace was not closed at all but we were targets of yet another scam. Everywhere we turned people kept coming up to us to try to suck us into scams. Even the security guard at the Grand Palace tried to lead us to someone who tried to scam us into going someplace else. They tried telling me I wouldn't get inside with shorts and I should give him my drivers license. In reality, once inside the grounds of the Grand Palace, wrap skirts were provided with a small deposit to cover womens' legs. We did make it back to the orange line public boat and back down the river. |
  The
Grand Palace is a large walled complex comprised of many number of buildings.
A great view of the
main monuments can be seen from the terrace.
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The Royal Monastery, Temple of the Emerald Buddha (Wat Phra Kaew) has a Buddha
carved from green jade.
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  Also found here are
statues of elephants and mythical beings.
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  The
Audience Hall to the right has a throne for the king.
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  The
Dusit Maha Prasat Throne Hall also has a throne for the king, but is used for special ceremonies.
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