I've never thought of Bangkok as a place on My List, but when you're presented with an opportunity to visit a new place, in a beautiful country, that you may not get another chance to visit, it seems rather rude to refuse! So, I flew in for the weekend to meet my husband once his business duties were over for the week. Given the fact that I hadn't seen him in 2 weeks, we were ideally looking for a bit of down time, a place to relax for a few days rather than to jump on every tour available. On balance though, it feels quite wrong to go to any place and not sample a bit of the local flavour and culture, so we did what we had to do and arranged a half day tour to take us to just a few of the top sights listed in our Lonely Planet Encounter Guide. I love these guides, they have proved so reliable in this last year. When you have a limited amount of time in a new city they are ideal, drawing your attention to the Must See bits in very few words - perfect for the last-minute traveller who is also a bit of a slow although experienced, packer!
So what did the wonderful Encounter recommend we do in Bangkok? Well, it said not to miss The Grand Palace or the Reclining Buddha. I'd have to agree. Maybe there were other "unmissable" sights that we missed, but the great thing is that I'll never know. I am happy with what I saw...and was impressed, big time, with the Reclining Buddha. I have a bit of a "thing" for buddhas lately and I have to admit, I have seen a lot of buddhas in the past year, so to see something so unique that literally takes your breath away, really has to be noted as Impressive.
The gold plated Reclining Buddha is 46 metres long and 15 metres high and is designed to illustrate the passing of the Buddha into nirvana. The feet and the eyes are engraved with mother of pearl, which you can see on the first picture. You can also get some perspective on his vastness on this last picture where you should just about be able to make out a human figure by his feet!
Hand painted walls within the Grand Palace
The Grand Palace complex was established in 1782 and consists of the royal residence and throne halls along with a number of government offices and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha - where photos were not permitted...but we did see Him and rather special He was too.
Beautiful, ornate architecture...
Ongoing renovations in front of our eyes...
So that concludes our short cultural expedition in Bangkok...the rest of our time was spent relaxing by the pool and in the spa, in true Chapman fashion :-)
