The Grand Palace

The Grand Palace was the home of the Royal Family until fairly recently (I can't recall any particular facts...I'm sure you can look it up if you are really interested), so it is not only magnificent, but also highly toured, revered, and monitored. What I didn't realize until, in my humble opinion, too late, is that the Grand Palace for Buddhists is like the Vatican for Catholics: it's pretty darn special. I felt for the first time, and the feeling would be repeated countless times during our adventure, as though I was violating this nation. Later, the prevalent emotion would change to exploitation, but for now, I just felt like an intruder in their sacred place. Oh, you will note that in the group picture of the new friends I met, I am wearing a rather odd outfit. I started off in a tank top and capri pants, thinking I could throw on my button-down shirt when I got to the Temple. When I arrived though, the security guards (definitely NOT in the running for the same Security Guard of the Year award my Suk 11 man was winning) kaiboshed my pant idea, claiming they were too short to be considered "pants". I happened to have my shawl with me, so I wrapped it around me and removed the pants. Removed the PANTS? What's gotten into me? Why, pray tell, didn't I simply wrap it around me, roll my pants up and keep the pants on? I'm so strange sometimes. Note: you must wear long pants or a skirt to the Grand Palace. I should have listened to the guidebooks. Needless to say, my odd outfit garnered some looks while in the sacred place. I'm so glad I'm making such a good impression on Thailand so far. Alright, let's get down to it...this is the temple around the Grand Palace. It contains some of the most beautiful buildings I've ever seen. I'm fairly certain some of them were flanked in real gold, even if only gold flake. It was really remarkable. One more thing: the weather was fabulous the entire time we were there together. The day Leanne left, Bangkok was rainy, but for the time we had together, these are the skies we looked into everyday. LOVING life.

Alright, Leanne even thought this picture was ridiculous. But to explain, the lady was holding out her hand exactly as I was, and I thought it was pic-worthy. So there. And yes I know, nice skirt.

In my version of what this picture is all about, these artists were commissioned by the government to restore the gorgeous frescoes in the Grand Palace. They flanked the entire wall around the temple. There were about five or ten men there, interspersed along the wall, all restoring the paintings. Leanne made a poignant comment: after they were done with the painting, they seemed almost three-dimensional. Magnificent.

This was the temple inside the temple that contained the Emerald Buddha. His head is teeny tiny and very far away (pictures are definitely not allowed inside the temple), and is the colour of emerald. I couldn't ascertain if it is actually made of emerald or not...it doesn't matter. It was quite the site. Into a line we went, deposited our shoes into little shelves, and then into the foot-odour-rich refuge where so many Buddhists laid their heads down to pray. Removing my shoes was humbling for me: I can't walk fast, must stay on smooth surfaces, and am really just like the people all around me. I'm loving The Sacred Thai so far.

I thought we were done once we exited the Emerald Buddha temple, but after passing through some pretty, pretty elaborate gates, we found ourselves at this castle. So this is where the Royal Family lived. Outstanding. Leanne and I returned here on our last day in Bangkok together and she brought up an interesting point: is no one living here now? What a waste! Such a shame. We offered to move in, but just sort of told the universe that we wanted to...there was no, like, administration there to talk to ;)

Here's yours truly in front of her new home: Here are the fabulous people I met, ensure I didn't sight see alone. Richard, Nina, Steve, and Adam.

Adam and I headed back to the Suk 11 in just enough time to greet Leanne, fresh and rearing to go. At LAST!