After a yummy breakfast at the traveler place, we set out to find the Grand Palace. I was well aware that the tuk tuk drivers would screw us over and tell us that Palace was closed for various reasons and try to take us to their mates place instead. So I was pretty focused on just walking there myself. I was so focused in fact that I completely blanked a man saying something to me. Darren and I had stopped to get our bearings and a dude approached us saying something. I walked off, but luckily Darren being a nice boy, paid attention and it turns out the dude was being genuinely nice- you'd never guess would you! I really do need to have more faith in the local people- it is their country after all. So anyway, this guy was a ledge and gave us loads of tips. He told us that the Grand Palace was closed over lunch since the King was visiting, and re-opened in a couple of hours and mentioned other stuff we could do in the mean time. He gave us a list of cool Wats to visit and a special material fare that was open for the week. He told us not to get the Yellow tuk tuk's since they completely rip tourists off (ie 200 baht cheapest). Instead, we were to get a government tuk tuk. He wrote down all the hot spots and then wrote down what how our names were spelt in Thai. Total ledge. Aw yeah- it is the King's 60th year on the throne so absolutely EVERYONE in Thailand was wearing yellow as a sign of respect for him. His picture was all over the buildings and everyone wears "long live the King" wrists bands. Tis just great how they have such respect for him. So anyway, after thanking this fab guy, we hailed down a government tuk tuk and he agreed to take us everywhere on our list for only 30 baht!! We couldn't believe it. We had our own private taxi for the day for about 50p! So, first stop, was an oober impressive Wat with a huuuge Golden Buddha standing vertically. We then visited a place where the Thai people were congregating to celebrate the King's reign. There was incense burning everywhere and mats to pray on. Next, we went to the tailors. I thought it would be like a market layout- but it turned out to be a really posh tailors and as soor as we walked through the door, it was apparent that we were being shown around by the Thai mafia and we were most definitely going to have to buy something if we wanted to leave alive. We were escorted to a room to look at suit designs and offered a drink. We both declined, which was obviously the wrong thing to do. The guy stated ' It is rude to turn down a drink in my country'. We were like- "ahh" so took one of course. Was a bit scary telling them that in fact we did not want to buy any suits. But luckily, Darren found some pashminas his mum and sis would like, so we bought them then dashed out the door pretty sharp. Next we headed to the Travel agents, where we booked a bus and boat trip to Koh Chang, which was our next destination. Next, we were surprisingly taken to a jewelry shop, which we didn't intend to visit. Again, as soon as we walked through the door, we assumed we were engaged and buying a wedding ring. So after a very quick brouse, we were again, out the door pretty sharpish. The woman had such a look of shock on her face when we left, it was quite amusing. They obviously thought we were bound to buy something if we're white. Finally, it was time to head to the Grand Palace. Before we entered, we changed into more respectable clothing- ie, long trousers and tops with sleeves. Some people had to hire shirts and long pants since they were inappropriately dressed. The palace was absolutely gorgeous. The detail was insane- it must be exceedingly well looked after since it's in amazing condition. There's gold leaf everywhere and intricate detail- such as tiny little mirrors stuck to pillars as a motif, make they place so utterly impressive. We spent a few hours slowly walking around the various temples and weapon museums. We removed our shoes and entered the main Waat, which was breathtaking as we entered. It would have a great deal more intense if it were not packed with tourists but I can understand why it is such an attraction to visit. I could just imagine walking around the temples and having the whole place to ourselves. We got a well earned Haagen-Dazs ice cream at the end of the visit, since we were done in. Slowly walked back to the hotel to have a little rest before heading out to dinner. This time we chose a nice Italian restaurant on Khao San Road which was much better than the other night's meal. We then hopped online to check out accommodation on Koh Chang and finally, before we headed for bed, we stopped off at a masseuse for an amazing foot, neck and shoulders massage. I think they found Darren's hairy legs highly amusing, since the girls kept giggling when they were massaging them. Went from feeling utterly relaxed to laying on a brick hard bed for the night.