Grand Palace and lots of temples

"05/05/2013"

It was an early start today.  Something which is something that is going to be a bit of a trend this holiday.
We had been advised to get up early to see the temples, as it tended to get very busy in the afternoon + the heat of the day would make things a lot less pleasant.

Negotiating the skytrain proved to be no problem at all, and myself an Alex (another fellow traveller from my hostel) arrived at the river in no time for the boat service.

We thought are plans would be scuppered slightly when a friendly tour guide mentioned that the service wasn't scheduled to run till later, but that he could offer us a private long boat for 500Baht.
Not deterred we went to find out ourselves, and 5minutes later the public service rocked up.  For 25baht.

The boat trip up the river was worth it, especially as at 7.30am the day was already warming up.

When we arrived we stopped for a bite, and looking up at the skies, I was very keen to discover where the temples were as it looked like the storm was coming.

Our first temples was Wat Pho.  It hadn't been two minutes of being there before the heavens opened and we were glad to be inside.  Definitely a tropical storm.  And a day I seriously regretted NOT having my rain wear with me.
The whole area seemed to get a battering, and the wind seemed to be blowing some of the preparations around.  Urgh.
We waited inside the temple for a good hour - it seemed most of the other tourists had a similar idea,  not wanting to brave the conditions.

When it finally didn't look at all like easing, we made the decision to crack on and explore.
Two seconds on being outside, and we were both soaked to our skin.  We sought refuge in a shop, and the shop owner managed to track down a lady selling anorak coats.  Clearly not the cheapest item in the world, but I needed one.

Of course by this point, it stopped raining didn't it.

The next game was one of avoiding puddles whilst taking photos of what was a beautiful temple.

Some of the pillars had incredibly ornate decoration on each mosaic tile, and it is fascinating just how similar cultures such as the Egyptians, Romans, Mayans and Buddhists all are really and yet how far apart they were.

We then walked for ages trying to find the Grand Palace, with security guards continually telling us it was closed to the public.
Eventually we got there (it should have been like 5/10 minutes max).
The gold temple was just radiating in what was now midday sunlight.  Dazzling.

The individual aspects of the temple do remind me of some of the Roman palaces..the separate buildings.
I also loved the ability to match the palace with nature - the water fountains, and gardens were very relaxing.

We meandered back to the boat, there was a river crossing which took us to Wat Arum, the temple at dawn.
This spiralled upwards with fantastic views over the city.  Again very similar mosaic patterns.
The climb go steeper and steeper, but was well worth the view.

We hopped on the boat back to Central, after what had been an exhausting day, en route stopping off for tea at a lovely little cafe.