January 27

Bangkok was pretty much a bust as far as I was concerned.  Too big, too crowded, too noisy and much too hot.  Speaking with the guide first thing this morning I discovered that the group was going to have to walk for both a long way to start the day and also a good deal throughout the day.  Hearing that I opted to take  a taxi and meet them at the Grand Palace the first stop.  It took me a half hour (but only cost a little over $3.00) to get there and then I sat and waited for them for over an hour.  Most of the time I was watching the "clothes police" who determined, very strictly I might add, whether each and every person entering was properly attired.  Women wearing tops that exposed the shoulders or pants that showed too much of the leg below the knee were required to rent a sarong or a top.  Men were required to rent trousers and a top if necessary.  I don't understand why people would wear inappropriate clothing after their guides explicitly told them what was and what was not acceptable.  Given the throngs and throngs of people constantly flowing into the grounds the "police" were kept very busy.

The palace grounds are huge and nothing there is used on a regular basis any more.  Many of the buildings are only opened once a year and others only when the royal family has distinguished guests.  Even the royal family no longer lives there.  Like the pagodas in Myanmar the buildings are very ornately decorated with gold paint and precious stones.  It was so crowded that I didn't take too many photographs but did take a couple to show the masses.  The pushing and shoving of the people and the heat of the sun got to me pretty quickly and I couldn't wait to get out of there.

Our next stop after a thankfully not crowded short bus ride was the reclining or emerald Buddha.  Why it is called emerald is beyond me as it is all covered in gold paint.  Other than for its size (46 meters in length) I found it singularly unimpressive.  We made one trip around it and then left.  At that point I decided that I had had enough and took a taxi back to the hotel.  The traffic was so bad that it took an hour to return but the cost was still about the same.  Things were a little hairy when the driver went the wrong way down a one way alley but he eventually figured it out and turned around.