Bangkok - Day 2 Wat Arun

We were absolutely roasted by the time we were done with the palace. I was patting myself on the back for bringing an umbrella along, because seriously, a hat is not enough if you want to cover the palace properly.

Next in line was the Wat Arun. While the Grand Palace is on the east bank of the Chao Phraya river, the Wat Arun is on the west bank. We had to take another boat to cross the river.

But first, there was more roaming on the streets.

Various types of fish

Okay I'm not too sure what these are, but they looked like they would photograph well.

Huge prawns

Random food items again


Seafood buffet (raw)


We saw this kid with a funny hairstyle walking ahead of us.

Pink eggs!!!

Homemade... err... streetmade ice lollies


Pictures of the king and his family being sold on the streets


Colourful kiddie slippers and shoes


Second-hand Thai books

Medallions for 20 Baht?

We found this sign hilarious!


The world's largest ash-tray

Random foodstuff yet again!

Finally, we got our boat!

Directions to lead people to the temple

Wat Arun (Temple of the Dawn) is also known that Wat Arunratchawararam Ratchaworamahavihara. Okay try pronouncing that.



The grandness of the temple is utterly humbling.

More funny signs. Do not dangle any doll? Huh? What doll? Dangle from where? We really couldn't figure out why a temple would have a sign asking people not to dangle dolls!











This guy reminded me of that guy in the Pirates of the Caribbean who has snakes for a beard.

The extremely steep steps made the climb really scary.

Yes, we scaled all of them!


Amazing view from the top


I love this picture I took of a remote-controlled kite.

The Chao Phraya river

Another sign that made us go "Huh?"


A closer look at the decor

Spot the cat?


It took many many auto shots before we could manage to get this one on Shub's came.

Finally, it was time to head back as we had a cruise at 7.30. So we took the boat back and then walked to our hotel.

We passed the Bangrak bazaar on the way.

Holy cow! The hotel had Doordarshan!

A van came to fetch us in the evening to take us to the river.

The Grand Pearl cruise


Welcome drinks aboard the Grand Pearl


Thai traditional dance on the cruise

These singers were trying to serenade everyone they saw.

The royal feast

This guy was apparently the monkey god (Hanuman?) teasing the half-woman half-fish creature in another dance.

The 2.45 km long Rama VIII bridge

The bridge and I

Happy and relaxed

The night shots came out amazing. Of course, to get one shot like this one, I had to take a thousand shaky shots.

The Grand Palace, by night

There were signs all over the place about the king's 80th birthday celebrations...

Even the boats had them!

Day 2 had been extremely eventful and tiring. We trudged back to our hotel, kind of sad that we were past the mid-point of the holiday, but also excited about shopping at Chatuchak the next day!