Please Stand For The Royal Anthem

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I didn't update yesterday on cause of it being too late in the evening. I wouldn't be on now were it not for my duty to continue updating. Tomorrow I head to Kanchanaburi, home of the famous Bridge on the River Kwai.

Yesterday I went to Bangkok's most famous attraction, the Grand Palace and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha (the two are connected). Both are stunning in their extravagence: the buildings glimmer in the sun with gold and gems covering them from head to toe. The admission, however, is (relatively to Thailand) expensive if you are a non-Thai (they get in for free).

I followed this up with a visit to the Snake Farm, a part of the Thai Red Cross built to collect snake venom to create anti-venoms. I watched a "milking" (where the snakes are made to expend their venom into a jar) and some snake handling. With a lot of time left in the day, I made the mistake of attempting something far out of Bangkok: Bang Pa-in, another royal palace. The palace grounds, especially the gardens with bushes shaped like elephants and other animals, was lovely, but the trip was much longer than I expected. Furthermore, the bus from Bangkok drops you off 2km from the actual palace, but to my surprise, a police officer gave me a ride on his motorcycle to the entrance for free (the police station was next door apparantly). I got back to the station via a woman's motorcycle for 20 Baht (66 cents roughly). I ended yesterday with a wonderful dinner at Silom Village, where you sit outdoors (and get bit by bugs, ugh) and watch Thai performances such as traditional dancing or martial arts.

Today was spent primarily out of Bangkok at Ayutthaya, the former capial of Thailand until it was destroyed by the Burmese in 1767. It's similar to Pompeii, except spread out throughout a currently-inhabitated modern town. Upon my return to Bangkok, I went to the Suan Lum Night Bazaar. The bazaar itself has a nice collection of shops, but my reason for being there was to visit the Joe Louis Puppet Theatre, where one can watch an elaborate puppet show based on traditional Thai mythology. At the beginning of the show, we had to stand twice: once in silence for the Princess, and again for the playing of the royal anthem while a slideshow of the King was played on the monitors. This was actually the second time today I had to stand for the royal anthem. When I returned to Bangkok, the anthem was played in the train station. I knew one was supposed to stand in silence while it was played, but since this was the first time I had heard it I didn't realize I had to stop walking until I noticed everyone else had. Playing the royal anthem is done at every movie screening in Thailand as well. The play itself was great, although a bit pricey, and at the end the puppeteers went around playing with the audience: one of the puppets stole my hat and put it on, walking about the audience passing the hat to other people before returning it to me.

I need to get up early tomorrow, but in all likelihood I'll set the alarm back later and waste time, as I keep doing on this trip.

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Photos

Buddha Head in a Tree
A buddha head covered over the years by the roots of a tree at the Wat Matathat in Ayutthaya.

Grand Palace
Gah! This is far from my best photo of the Grand Palace, but most of my photos of it are on another memory stick I left in my hotel room. Sorry.

Snake Milking
Milking snakes for venom at the Snake Farm in Bangkok.

Bang Pa-In Palace
Out of the way but has lovely gardens.

Bang Pa-In Palace Bushes
Elephants!

Silom Village
Traditional Thai music and dancing to cheap but excellent food.

Tower in Ayutthaya
On the steps of a tower in one of the Wat ruins in Ayutthaya (can't remember which one).

Joe Louis Puppet Theatre
Puppeteers posing for a photo at the Puppet Theatre in the Suan Lum Night Bazaar.