Khlong Bang Si Bat

The ship arrived in Laem Chabang, basically a large container port, but we had booked a coach tour to Bangkok and by 8am we were sitting on the coach about to depart. The weather was already hot and humid, about 32C. The journey to Bangkok would take about two hours. We were to visit two main sites, the Golden Buddha Temple and the Grand Palace. The temple contained a Buddha, not surprisingly, made out of gold and stands fifteen feet high. The temple itself was stunning, mainly white and gold. We had to take off our shoes to see the Buddha itself. Our first sight of the Grand Palace took our breath away. It looked like a fairy tale come to life or something from the 'King and I', only more so. Many of the buildings are painted with gold dust, covered in mosaics and coloured glass or covered in painted pottery. We had a guide, who was excellent in explaining the significance of what we were viewing. We stopped to see the Emerald Buddha, actually made of jade. It was difficult to decide what to photograph as there was so much of interest. We stopped for lunch at the Bangkok Hotel 'G', a modern and stylish hotel with a very nice restaurant. It was a Thai buffet lunch with a good choice of Thai and European food. On our way back to the ship we stopped at a jewellery factory and bought one or two small items. All round it was a wonderful day.Read more