Our Great Adventure: Day 85 12/12/14

Yes, Simon's curry did provide him with some nocturnal exercise but after a Starbucks coffee and pain au chocolat (I know your thinking "heathens") he was right as rain and ready to go exploring the Grand Palace. We headed back down to the Central Quay and took a 15 minute boat ride and alighted at Quay no 9 which was then only a five minute walk to the Palace. It was already very busy with a mix of Thai, Malaysian, Western and the inevitable Chinese tour groups waiting to go in. We both had to put on our trouser legs due to the Palace's strict dress code and after paying an eye watering entrance fee of 500 baht each (£10), which made Simon look even whiter than the curry last night, we ventured into the Wat Phra Kaew temple area. It was truly magnificent with many different temples, stupas, had a miniature version of Angkor Wat and the highlight was the Emerald Buddha (which is actually jade). The Grand Palace and temples were built by the first modern king of Thailand (still Siam them) Rama I, when he relocated the capital from the west to the east of the Chaophoyra river in the mid 18th century. The palace and temples now are a mix of visitor attractions and government buildings, and the present King Rama IX lives in a palace in the north of the city. The day was very sunny and clear so made for some stunning photos with the golden, multi coloured temples contrasted beautifully with the blue sky. However with temperatures at 35+ degrees C we soon tired and kept having many rest stops in the few shaded areas we found. On leaving the temples we went into the Palace grounds where we saw the coronation room for the kings and also the king and queen's throne. All these were banned from taking photos which was a shame noting how immaculate and ornate they were. It was now past midday and the sun was really starting to become very debilertating so we headed into the cafe and had a much needed ice cream. We then went into the air conditioned textile museum which we found to be very interesting. It told of the fact that the Thai traditional costume had not been worn since 1941 when a government decree ordered everyone to wear western clothes. In the 1960's the present queen helped restore the making of these type of clothes by local women throughout Thailand. It was part of her and her husbands work to help Thais to become more self sufficient and also to be able to overcome the many natural disasters that befall their country which caused widespread famine in the rural areas. The King concentrated on helping farmers to become more proficient farmers so they could survive a bad harvest every few years and the Queen helped the women to learn how to weave so they could provide a secondary source of income so realising the whole family from the vicious cycle of substance farming and its ensuing poverty. The fashions and clothes the Queen helped to create she wore on her numerous state visits in the 1960's. This created a fashion demand for Thai silk and thus helped massively to boost the Thai economy and enrich Thai people's lives. This helped us understand why both the King and Queen are so revered in Thailand, as they are seen as working tirelessly for the people. We are in Thailand for the month long celebrations of the King's birthday and everyone is wearing yellow and there are many celebrations occurring everywhere. After nearly four hours of visiting the Grand Palace we were exhausted. We started to walk back to our hotel with the intention of finding something to eat and then get a tuk tuk ride back. As we didn't find anywhere we fancied we arrived back near our hotel 2 hours later. We grabbed a quick sandwich and thoroughly exhausted, went to the hotel pool for a quick dip, then had a couple of hours chilling on the sun loungers. All this sightseeing in high humidity heat is very tiring, honest!!. That night we decided to treat ourselves on our final night in Thailand and we headed to a local establishment, The Mango Restaurant. Diane had a peanut curry and Simon had steamed fish in his favourite lemongrass and chilli sauce, all washed down with our favourite Chang (elephant in Thai) beer.