The Summer Palace, Bang Pa-In.

King Rama V built a summer palace compound for his wives and family in Ayutthaya. It was a beautiful morning when we visited, cooler and fresh. King Rama V had been educated in Europe and brought back those influences to his kingdom. Some of the buildings have a distinct European look while others show a Chinese influence. This Palace is used occasionally as a residence and also hosts ceremonies and receptions. I think the public is allowed in some buildings, but we just walked the grounds.

On the drive to our cruise boat for the ride home, we drove past rice paddies, lots of banana and mango trees and lotus fields. We stopped for a local snack, sugar in a roti. Very sweet but nice.

The boat cruise home included a lunch buffet (quite nice), a more Western meal than we have had lately. It gave us a different view of downtown Bangkok. Traffic was so bad Air had us exit the van and led us to the Sky Train were we travelled for 4 stops to a station near our hotel.Read more