Bangkok Day 4 Tuesday

On our final day in Bangkok we decided to taxi directly over to our greatest destination, the Grand Palace. Since we didn't manage to make it inside the day before, we had to go back. As soon as I stepped out of the taxi door in front of the Palace, a man in a white shirt with a badge around his neck yelled "miss miss, you cannot go in wearing shorts, come with me, this way!" I suspected this man wasn't official, although he looked very much so, because he spotted me the second I opened the taxi door and followed me with his eyes until I set a foot on the ground. I had already changed from sandals to tennis shoes for the palace, as our hotel's doorman told me I needed to. I wasn't aware that my shorts (and Jason's) were also a problem. Immediately frustrated by this man I tried to walk in the Palace gate anyway, when another man dressed the same way spotted me and said the same thing. I angrily grabbed Jason and stomped away down the road, just trying to get them out of my hair. I didn't believe them but they did scare me a bit away. I don't know what kind of scam they were pulling because they vaguely pointed away and told us we could get "cheap pants for free" but didn't follow through on anything. Instead we walked over to the harbor and looked across the large river to the Temple of the Rising Sun, an impressive looking place with five looming towers.

Temple of the Rising Sun to the right, me to the left

Although we wanted to check it out, we didn't want to spend the time to figure out how to cross the river and potentially miss one more afternoon of lounging by the pool. We decided it was time to enter the Palace for real. This time we boldly walked by the shouting men in white (you feel so rude not acknowledging them but you have to!) and entered the gate. Inside a women who was actually official directed us to a line of waiting foreigners who needed to rent long pants or skirts to cover their legs. This was out of respect for the Palace and the Buddhist temple located inside. There we saw the below sign that I couldn't pass up:

"Don't Trust Strangers, who offer tuk tuk's, lucky buddhas and boat trips" -- at least we didn't take any boat trips! 

A good warning, one we needed earlier! Anyhow, dressed in our lovely new clothes we finally were able to buy tickets and enter the glorious palace. (The rentals were free.) And boy was it glorious! The complex was HUGE and everywhere we looked there were glittering stone tiles, statues, gilded wall murals, it was magnificent. And it was definitely worth the hassle to get in. Earlier I had been trying to convince Jason to go to the aquarium in Siam Center instead, because we wouldn't have to deal with the scams there. He was a little close to agreeing as the aquarium was his idea originally since he whines he has never been to one. 

Pictures can do more justice to the palace than can my words, although neither can really capture the size and brilliance. 

Large Golden Temple 

Detailed carved warrior

Gold inlaid into the mosaic wall

These murals covered the interior walls of the entire complex 

Jason's new pants, he felt they were comfy, especially that elastic band

Such beautiful detail!

Our wonderful new outfits, mine was a wrap skirt

Me

Huge and beautiful gold wall designs

Inside was the Emerald Buddha

Jason and me

Jason

Mmm hungry! 

The rest of our afternoon was once again spent at the pool. Sadly it was our last day there already. That night we headed once again towards Siam Center, only this time we took the river taxi instead of a car. That was lots of fun once again! This time the stop we got off was full of hustle and bustle. It actually dropped us a little farther than Siam Center which caused us to walk a few blocks through the bustling shopping area. I bought a dress for $7 and sunglass for .50 cents. Score! Again we ate a delicious dinner and then headed towards the large shopping area to look around, something we actually hadn't done too much of. I ended up getting a really nice dress for only $20! Shopping was really cheap in Thailand, just like they say! I wish I could have done more, or could go back. The dress I bought was a Thai brand but was right next to Guess and Dior and whatnot. 

Beautiful dresses!

Some of the glamorous fashion of Bangkok. I did NOT buy a dress like this. 

At the end of the night we planned to go the amazing International Market and do so me shopping, a little to take back to Korea and a little bit of snack for our upcoming travel day. Man that market was great, Jason bought some spices and coffee mate (haha) to take back and we got a whole slew of great treats: organic apples (from CA!), dried mango, Ritz Crackers, Pringles, Kinder chocolate bars, nuts... we were well stocked! We took a taxi back to the hotel and snuggled into bed. We had to be up at 4am the next morning to catch our 6am train ride from Bangkok to the Cambodian border.