The main event in the
Bangkok excursion was the visit to the royal temples and residence. The king is
not living there at the moment because he is in his late eighties, frail and
needs to be very close to his doctors. He is the longest reigning monarch in
the world – slightly longer than the UK’s Queen Elizabeth. There seems to be a real cult of monarchy in
Thailand. The king and queen’s birthdays are both public holidays and there are
massive pictures of them strung across the road in many places, Especially the
queen. Her picture is from at least forty years ago, so she is ever youthful.
Good idea.
The palace and temple
complex is large and there are many buildings and structures. Diva likes shine
and glitter and bright colours and she was in heaven. Every building is covered
in gold or mother of pearl or mosaic made from stones and glass. It is a
fantasy idea of what a royal residence should be. The group did not go into
many buildings but an impressive one was the temple of the emerald Buddha. The
Buddha itself is tiny but it sits on top of a massive edifice of gold carvings.
This is as impressive as tourism gets, anywhere in the world. TSH and Diva
wondered if the Beijing Forbidden City was like this when it was in use, as it
has many similar structures.
The journey back to the ship
was on the overhead expressway, giving excellent views of the city, including
impressive new buildings (Eastern and Western style) and old buildings, many of
which are crowded together and in need of renovation.
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