The Grand Palace

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Much like the previous day, Sarah and I headed down to the river docks to catch the river express ferry.  Wearing jeans and closed-toed shoes (in 95 deg weather) we headed to the Grand Palace where we were told we would need to comply with the strict dress code.  After getting lost a couple times in the amulet market and almost falling victim to a couple scammers, we made it to the Grand Palace and Temple of the Emerald Buddha (both in the same area).  The place was huge and consisted of 32 touristy buildings, some temples, pillars, halls, palaces, mansions..etc.  The emerald Buddha was one of the major attractions, which was small in size, however it was about 100 feet high atop many statues and pillars.  After finishing up the tour of the palace, we quickly changed into our hot weather clothes and continued back to the ferry terminal.

Our next stop was Wat Arun, a great temple, which consists of flights of stairs that almost straight up.  Upon arriving at the temple, we started up about a hundred or so steps.  The first set were normal, the second set steeper and by the time we hit the fifth set, they were the steepest steps I've ever seen.  Views from the top were phenomenal and we could see much of Bangkok and the river region.  Afterwards, we headed back to the hotel, making our way to the rooftop bar to meet some hometown friends.

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