Grand Palace, Wat Pho, and River Ferry

We walked to the Grand Palace by 9 this morning, and were awed immediately after we entered the gate.  Construction of the palace began in 1782, and it has been the official residence of the Kings of Siam (and later Thailand) ever since.  During construction, more building materials were needed and the King ordered his men to go upstream to the old capital city of Ayutthaya (we visited yesterday), which was destroyed in 1767.  The king’s men dismantled structures and removed bricks except from temples.  By the end, they had completely leveled the old royal palaces in Ayutthaya, and ferried the bricks by barges to Bangkok, where they were incorporated into the walls of Bangkok and the Grand Palace itself.  The king has lived in other royal residences since 1925, and uses the Grand Palace for official events, ceremonies, and state functions.   It is an incredibly ornate complex of buildings, residences, museums, and temples, with hundreds of murals, statuary, ceramics, and mosaics covering buildings.  I also enjoyed visiting the Queen Sirikit Museum of Textiles. 

We walked to the next block and visited Wat Pho, a Buddhist temple complex.  Wat Pho is one of the oldest and largest wats in Bangkok.  It is home to more than 1000 Buddha images as well as one of the largest Buddha images (151 feet).  Intended as a place of education for the general public, Wat Pho is free for all Thai people.  The craftsmanship is incredible!

We had lunch overlooking the Chao Phraya River and Wat Arun, at Rongros, a Michelin recommended restaurant.  Each of us had prawns, prepared in different ways.  They were delicious.  We walked to a nearby Ghee Gelato House for dessert.

We spent most of the rest of the afternoon, taking a ferry up the river and back down.  The riverfront is lined with a mix of very old stilt houses, mansions, temples, and Thailand’s Parliament, alongside new houses and high rise apartments.  The river is busy with ferries and boats.  We finished our afternoon with a visit to K Panich Sticky Rice, making sticky rice and mango dessert since 1932, and Michelin recommended since 2019.  Was yummy!