February 23 -- Exploring Thailand, Day 2, Bangkok (Part 1)

Today would be a very long day. Everyone taking a tour of Bangkok met at 7:30am, in the Royal Theater, including the members of the Our Gang travel group. The tour buses departed the port at 8:10am. We did not return to the port until about 6:30pm. After a bit more souvenir shopping and clearing customs, we got to the room about 7:30pm.

Here is a summary of the day:

8:10am to 10:30 -- Bus ride into Bangkok

10:30 to 12:30 -- Tour of the Grand Palace and Temple of the Emerald Buddha

12:30 to 12:40 -- Longboat ride down the canal to the Temple of the Dawn

12:40 to 1:20 -- Tour of the Temple of the Dawn

1:20 to 1:35 -- Longboat ride up the canal to the Banyan Tree Hotel

1:35 to 2:45 -- Lunch

2:45 to 3:00 -- Bus ride to Gems Gallery International

3:00 to 3:50 -- Shopping and browsing in Gems Gallery International

3:50 to 4:00 -- Load buses

4:00 to 6:30 -- Bus return to port at Laem Chabang

All of this was taking place on a very hot and very humid day. Here was the Weather Channel's recorded temperature in the heat of the day.

The Grand Palace and Temple of the Emerald Buddha were spectacular indeed! I cannot begin to describe the architectural and artistic magnificence of them, so I won't. Instead, I will provide you a lot of pictures, likely too many for a blogpost, but what the hell. (Also, none of these photos is of the inside of the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, because photos were not allowed to be taken inside.)

(Second row from the bottom, photos 2 & 3: those are not real gemstones, just hand-painted simulations.

Last row, last photo: a glimpse from outside into the interior of the Temple of the Emerald Buddha.)

(Continue reading about this day in the next blogpost, Exploring Thailand, Day 2, Bangkok (Part 2)