Today was a busy day because we have a city tour to do from morning to evening. We have breakfast in twin tower (look at my first day post for review) and head toward Wat Pho or Emerald and Reclining Bhuddha complex to see a giant Buddha that I suspect made from bronze, other than seeing the Buddha statue and architecture of the buildings and stupas, there isn’t much thing to do. To get in the temple we have to open our shoes and put it in the plastic bag provided, so it would be better to use a simple shoes.

The Reclining Buddha Statue

Wat Pho Complex in the morning

Statue of Buddha inside Wat Pho

Architecture inside the complex

Panorama of Wat Pho complex in Bangkok

The center of the complex is beautiful though, there are ropes symmetrically tied from one side to the other hanging a small word, it reminds me of professional photographs taken in Nepal. The weather was hot but the site wasn’t very crowded when I wandered, but it is getting more crowded when we leave.

The centre of Wat Pho complex with flags hanging on ropes

The next stop was perhaps the most visited place in Bangkok by tourists, named The Grand Palace where the Kings used to live. Today it is a tourist spot and few times a year there are ceremonies taken place there. At the front gate there is security check, specially for backpack and they will tie a red rope to the bag checked, it is recommended to bring only necessary things or small backpack when you visit the Grand Palace.

The front entrance of Grand Palace Bangkok

Crowd inside the main building in Grand Palace Bangkok

Even from the entrance it was very crowded and humid, the weather was very hot at around 35 degree celcius. The complex is huge and take hours if you want to see all the building and learn about it. Inside the complex, we could see giant, bell-shaped, golden buildings and grandous architectural construction. Moving inside the complex was slow and difficult with the number of people around, but as you progressed deeper to the complex the space is getting large.

Crowd at Grand Palace Bangkok

Building build by the fifth Thailand King, deeper inside the complex

From the Grand Palace we leave the area not using bus, but using a boat and headed to other famous tourist spot called Wat Arun. The boat ride was only around 10 minutes using a wooden boat with minimal features, when the boat is speeding the dirty-brown water from Chao Praya river splash on our face (yuck!).

Wat Arun as seen from the boat

Chao Phraya River

Wat Arun is an architecture best seen from across the river than from the complex itself. In Wat Arun you could only hike for about 10 meters off the ground, and the sight is not very good either. From Wat Arun we took another boat ride to a restaurant for lunch in Asia Hotel, a decent buffet with good variety and great taste. It is very good that I ate two portion of hainam chicken rice and pad thai.

On a boat to Wat Arun and the sign at Wat Arun entrance

Closer view of Wat Arun

In the afternoon we went to Madame Tussauds, taking pictures with wax of famous figure around the world. Madame Tussauds is located near MBK, a shopping mall with cheap goods inside.

Madame Tussauds at Bangkok

Mahboonkrong, a cheap goods shopping mall across Siam Paragon

Instead of going to MBK for shopping, we went to Hello Kitty Cafe in siam square, which is basically a cafe and shops decorated with Hello kitty theme. I wonder why my sister was so excited about it. Then we walk to Siam Paragon, an elite shopping mall we have visited yesterday. My sister and mother shopped a little, then we ate at TWG, which to our surprise is cheaper than in Singapore or Indonesia. I want to go to Oceanworld in Siam Paragon, however the queue line was very long that i decided to try my luck tomorrow.

Hello Kitty Cafe, crowded and waiting list is long at the evening

Ambience inside Hello Kitty Cafe Bangkok

The bridge from Siam Square (Hello Kitty Cafe) to Siam Paragon

Eating scallop at TWG Siam Paragon with Siam tea

At eight we have dinner reservation on a boat that will take us on 90 minutes ride cruising Chao Praya River while we are eating. The cruise docked at a riverside mall, first we took a mandatory photo with Thai girl that she will sell later for 200 Baht ($6) each person. Because I had eat in Siam Paragon before, I didn’t eat the buffett. The view from the river was good and the best sight is when the boat passes Wat Arun.

Bangkok cityscape from the cruise

Table set for dinner on the cruise

There was a concert (I think because it’s December 30th) in front of Wat Arun facing the river and the sight was beautiful with Wat arun colored with projectors. It happened on the second half part of the cruise (the ride back to harbor) and I could say it was a great experience. After the cruise we have to wait one hour for our bus to arrive due to traffic in front of the riverside mall.

Wat Arun at night; The Grand Palace; Rama VIII Bridge taken from the cruise

Concert seen from the cruise; Wat Arun illuminated by the lights