Exiting the taxi at the walls of the Grand Palace, we were approached and told we could not enter the palace now but could at 1:30, so why not go on a Tuk-Tuk tour for 20 baht? (30 baht to a dollar.) Tuk-Tuks are 3-wheeled motor car 3-person seats with a cover that whiz around not quite as conveniently and dangerously as the motorcycles/scooters, but with a bit more wiggle-room than the taxis. They are pretty fun to ride in, although there's no A/C, and our drivers (for we had to take 2) made a game of racing to their destinations.
Not Our destinations, note.
We had been, as a warning I had read put it, 'whisked away by tuk-tuks to unknown destinations'.
First they took us to an unremarkable temple with a large Buddha and some urns, where we wandered for a few minutes and talked with a friendly man who confirmed for us once and for all that the island is pronounced Koh-sa-moo-ee, not koh-sa-ma-ee, as Father was prone to say. Now he must correct himself, having heard it correctly from a native.
After this temple visit, supposedly we were to go to the Golden Mount temple, then back to the Palace by 1:30.
Hah.
Of course I knew exactly what had happened, and it was confirmed when they made a stop 'on the way'... to a jewel / souvenir shop. I had just read about this kind of scam, and we had been, as tourists aught to be ware against, caught in it. The man at the Palace had a tag but he was not Palace security of course. The ultra-cheap tour was because the tuktuk drivers get 500 baht for each location they drop us at, whether we buy anything or not. So you can imagine it is in their best interest to never get us to our desintation.
Once 1:30 rolled around -- still without having seen the Mount, and knowing the Palace closes at 3:30, I refused to get out of the vehicle, then when I did, we all refused to go into the store -- which was the 6th, mind -- and demanded they take us back to the palace. Thankfully, they did, they could see we were irritated at that point.
So we went to the Grand Palace. Entry is 400 baht a person, and the dress code is 'strict'. Kind of. Long pants required, mostly, and no bare shoulders for women. Dad borrowed some elephant pants, I threw on a sweater, and we broiled in the heat as we wandered the elaborate palace. The decorations were fun.
Especially interesting were the long walls covered in murals telling some sorts of stories involving ogres and palaces.
We also saw the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, or Wat Phra Kaew, hosting the largest jade buddha. We learned later that he has 3 outfits for the different seasons, changed seasonally by the king. Yup.
After this, being miserably hot and unable to suffer more of the palace, we visited the Regalia Museum (included in the ticket price). This part was fascinating, and to our relief, there was air conditioning. No pictures were allowed, as with Crown Jewels in other countries I've seen, and I didn't sneak one picture. We saw jeweled belts, rings, swords, spittoons, and betel nut sets, and a history of Thai coins.
I liked reading about the royal tonsure ceremony, the top-knot-cutting ceremony. When boys are 11-13(?) and when girls turn 11, they go through this. All their hair but their top-knot is shaved, the top-knot is topped with those jeweled caps, the kids are dressed up, then they go through this ceremony. At one point their top-knot hair is divided into 3 sections, tied off with gold bands or something, and 3 different people cut it off (the father does one). Then the rest of the hair is shaved. The next day their hair is floated on the river with candles, if I remember correctly.
The other interesting piece was the royal baby announcement and inaugural sleep. On display we saw the royal cradle, the gold and silver fish and prawns, and gold and silver coconuts. When a royal baby is one month, its birth is announced and they have this ceremony. The gold/silver items are dunked into a large bowl of water, then the water is put on the baby's head and hands, then the baby takes his inaugural sleep in the royal cradle.
Yes, this is so.
There was also a monk wandering through the displays, he talked with Dad for a little bit, which was nice.
After this lovely cool environment, we stepped out into the heat to find our way home. We took a taxi back.
It was disappointing not to see the other 3 temples I had planned, but it was certainly an interesting day and we were tired enough. We swam (yet again), ate Thai food, relaxed, and fell asleep.
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