Royal Palace and Wat Pho (Thailand Part 2)

Early in the morning, as recommended by the guidebook, we set off for the Royal Palace. It seemed that we were not the only ones who had read this recommendation, as there were already many visitors and groups there. So we followed the crowd on our tour.

First, we entered the temple complex next to the palace. There, we saw richly decorated roofs and figures in colorful and golden colors.

However, the centerpiece of Wat Phra Kaeo is the sanctuary with the Emerald Buddha. This is the most important holy site for Buddhists in Thailand.

Through a gate of the temple complex, we then entered the grounds of the Royal Palace. Many of the buildings are currently being renovated, so some areas were closed off or scaffolded.

The Chakri Maha Prasat Palace was built in the European Renaissance style, but the king insisted on towers and roofs in the Siamese style.

But the most famous one is the reclining Buddha, which seems to fill the hall where it is located: it is 46 meters long and reaches up to the high ceiling of the room.

With our admission ticket to the Royal Palace, we also received a ticket for a dance performance at the Royal Theater. So we set off on foot to the theater.

The performance lasted only about half an hour, but it was a very beautiful show in terms of stage design and presentation. Scenes from the Ramayana myth were shown, of which we had already seen excerpts in Indonesia, Vietnam, and Cambodia.

Despite the high temperatures of around 34°C, we decided to walk back to the hotel. On the way, we passed the royal mausoleum with the temple behind it.

We took a look at the buildings, which were currently undergoing extensive renovations.

Then we passed a few tuk-tuks and, after some price negotiation, we decided to take this faster way to cover the last two kilometers. Our driver was surprisingly fast, and we arrived back sooner than expected.