Urban adventures temples and river cruise

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So another early start! I had to meet my tour guide at 8:30 but at a different hotel, so I allowed my self 30 min to walk there, and naturally got a little lost (I was one road over from the hotel) and managed to find some lovely people who looked up the location and sent me in the right direction! I arrived 10 min early and extremely hot, thankful we stayed in the air conditioned hotel lobby for a short while to cool down. My tour guide Gof (pronounced a bit like cough, but with a g) explained to me that no one else was taking the tour today, just me!
We started the tour by getting a local bus towards the river which separates old and new Bangkok. When we reached the river we got off and headed to the mooring area to get the traditional long boat. The ride was bumpy but gave a lovely view of Bangkok, seeing temples, the palace and everyday houses. We passed a temple where it is considered lucky to feed the fish, so we got a loaf of bread each to feed to the fish, which are a variety of cat fish. We left the long boat and entered the Wat Pho temple, we first viewed the reclining Buddha, where small pots had been laid in a long line, which small change is placed into, you have to put small change in each and every pot in order, this represents some aspects of meditation. And then we moved further into the grounds, where there was a standing Buddha, a Buddha sat on a giant snake with many heads and many more Buddhas sat in the grounds all the sat Buddhas where being restored and had been moved there to keep then safe.
After Wat Pho, we took a tuk tuk to the imperial palace, the tuk tuk was not as scary as I had thought it would be! It was lovely to have a breeze even for a short journey as it was getting even hotter now!
We entered the imperial palace and my guide informed me that often the Chinese people take over and that we had to have a chinese mentality and push through the large crowds. We started by going into that museum, which housed the decorations and crowns used in ceremonys by the royal family and that clothing for the emerald Buddha, based on the season so that Buddha doesn't get too cold/hot. After the museum we went to the royal temple and saw the emerald Buddha We walked around the grounds of the royal temple, which had many different sections which held Buddhas ashes, royal status and some other important things (that I seem to have forgotten) we couldn't enter these buildings, but they were exceptional in decoration. As we left the royal temple and headed into the ceremonial areas of the palace, we bought some chocolate milk, which is made in a palace and even the milk is from cows kept in the palace grounds. It was wonderful and fresh, which was needed due to the heat. We walked through the grounds but where not allowed into any buildings before leaving the palace to get a bus back to the hotel.
I am now cooling off a bit before heading out to find lunch, as it's 1.30pm here xxx

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Comments

[Mum]

Buddha tour
Sarah it sounds wonderful - Emerald Buddha? Wow I hope you have some photographs - or were you not allowed to take pictures because it is a Royal Palace, and Buddha's temples? What a fantastic two days you have had already - I hope you are cooling off somewhere, and enjoying the different culture. To be the only person to do this tour must have made it even more "special"... Wow! Well done you! xx