Bangkok

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29th November 2007

When we arrived at Bangkok airport straight away it was really strange. The different people, the smells, the currency. It really does hit you straight away how different the whole experience is going to be. We waited outside the terminal for the public bus to take us to Koh San road in Bangkok to begin our adventure round Asia. The journey through Thailand was so strange seeing all the different people. There are pictures of the king everywhere, they absolutely love him!Koh San Road was such a culture shock!There are stalls selling clothes, food, trainers, paintings, you name it their selling it, everywhere you look. We tested some of the local menu; Pad Thai, the ultimate street food sold at all the street stalls. It is made from stir fried rice noodles, fish sauce, eggs, beansprouts and chicken.We also tested our first ride in a Tuc tuc; the Thai way to get around!A motorbike powered taxi that is suppossed to fit two but we fit four, see picture!

30th November 2007

Today we headed to the Grand Palace; the former home of the King and the administrative seat of Government. Thai Kings stopped living in the palace around the turn of the twentieth century, but the palace still remains the spiritual heart of the Thai kingdom. We all had to dress accordingly as The Temple of the Emerald Buddha and The Grand Palace is Thailand's most sacred site. We had to wear long pants and T shirts with sleeves and trainers; in other words no bare feet as the Thai people see the feet as the most unhygenic part of the body and therefor see them as offensive.The palace  is laid out following the general outline of Ayutthaya palaces. The Outer Court, near where you enter the complex once housed the government departments in which the king was directly involved, such as civil administration, including the army, and the treasury. The Temple of the Emerald Buddha takes up one corner of the complex next to the outer court. In the middle is the Central Court, where the residence of the king and the halls for conducting state business were located. You are allowed to look at the fronts of the buildings in the central court, but only two of the throne halls are open to the public.Behind the central court is the inner court. This was where the king's royal consorts and daughters lived. The inner court was like a small city entirely populated by girls and boys under the age of puberty. Even though no royalty currently reside in the inner court, it is still completely closed off to the public. The main centerpiece of the complex however is the 45 centimeter Emerald Buddha. Carved from just one piece of Jade it is the holiest and most revered religious object in Thailand. The Emerald Buddha is housed within Wat Phra Keow, which is a very ornately decorated building full of tiny mirrored tiles.

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