A Great Day

For the first time today I suddenly had the thought that I could happily do exactly the same, all over again tomorrow! I walked through Chinatown to catch a river-bus to the Grand Palace. The Grand Palace complex is worth travelling round the world to see in its own right. It includes the temple of the Emerald Buddha and dozens of throne rooms, temples, government buildings and other splendid examples of architecture and sculpure.

Then it was on to Wat Pho - the temple of the Reclining Buddha. Whereas the Emerald Buddha is quite small, the reclining Buddha is huge. That temple is also in a fabulous complex of stunning buildings, such as the memorials to former kings.

After a delicious lunch I went on a long-tail boat trip round the Khlongs or canals, which included a stop at the collection of Royal Barges, which are really grand. The canals go through some green leafy areas and past houses ranging from traditional Thai homes, to shacks, to modern flats, but all of them using the waterway as their thoroughfare.

Finally I came back the same way through a much livelier Chinatown where preparations are well under way for Chinese New Year.

I hope I don't offend any of the people who have shown off their home cities and towns to me, but currently Bangkok is my favourite. I couldn't live here - too noisy and dirty - but it has a great energy and I love the food.

I took about 70 photos today so choosing the best one or two to illustrate this entry is impossible! The two I've picked at random are the Temple of the Dawn or Arun Wat which I just saw in passing from the river bus, and a row of seated buddhas from a cloister in the Emerald Buddha complex.