Well this was our best experience so far of our stay in Bangkok!! Today we went to the Grand Palace and the Emerald Buddha.

Well were to begin!? The palace is in the middle of a wee walled city, which is completely different from the rest of bangkok. There are pictures of the King and Queen everywhere, mounted in huge decorated frames all lining the streets. The palace is right in the centre of this wee city and is surrounded by street vendors trying to sell you things. There are also alot of con artists trying to make you take rides in Tuk Tuk's around the city! Cheeky wee beggars honestly!!

Anyway, inside the palace grounds you have to change into appropriate clothing (covers all your legs down to ankles, no open toe'd shoes etc) which is not the best when it is 94 degrees outside! I had to change into this long wrap around skirt, in maroon.....of all colours!!!! haha Lee had to where these MC hammer trousers, which obviously I found sooooo funny (he didnt see the funny side!!)

I can't even begin to describe the palace buildings themselves! We have having a bit of trouble uploading the pics but will get them up asap, even those don't do them justice though!! There are so many different buildings all decorated in different coloured mirrors, beads and gold!! They glitter in the sun and are so impressive. This made our trip to Bangkok worthwhile, as we were feeling the city wasn't really the place for us.

In the grounds there is also the shrine in which the emerald buddha is housed. This is just a tiny thing on top of a huge gold stage. We weren't allowed to take any pics inside unfortunately so no evidence of how stunning this was. Most buddists make a pilgrim here at least once in their lifetime and there were some people praying while we were there. You just sit on the floor and it is so peaceful even though the room is crammed with people! It was truely an experience.

Well off to Koh Chang tomorrow so will be updating soon!!

Lots of love Siobhan and Lee :)