Temples and Theatre

I woke up feeling much better and was looking forward to another day of sightseeing. We went and had breakfast and also booked a theatre trip for the evening. We decided to visit Wat Phra Keo (Reclining Buddha Temple) and the Royal Grand Palace. We went to get on the local boat again and decided to find a pier a bit closer to the hotel. However after an hour later of walking in the heat and being told that the 2 piers we had been heading towards had both closed we were getting rather tired and annoyed. We tried one more pier otherwise we ready to give in and catch a taxi we came across one that was in operation – yippee! So we caught the boat and were on our way! The boat ride only lasted 10 mins, we made our way through a market and headed for the Reclining Buddha temple.



From the outside the temple looks like the other temples, highly decorated, but once we had taken off our shoes and entered the temple there was this amazing gold Buddha lying on its side approximately 40m long. We walked around the site looking at all the statutes and temple buildings. Time was getting on and we had to back at the hotel before 5 to catch the bus to the show we had booked earlier, so we headed towards the Royal Palace, the only problem was the entrance was on the other side of the Palace to where we were. So we decided to put our life in our hands again with another tuk tuk ride, after some serious negotiation we got our ride for 20TB and no shops. As we arrived we heard thunder but continued heading to the ticket office, just as we got our tickets the heaven’s opened (when it rains, it really rains!). Fortunately we were able to shelter under the various buildings. We got to the main temple and sat inside with everyone else just taking in the grandness of it all. We decided to brave the rain and continued to look around but it just wasn’t fun anymore. We headed towards the exit but before we left Adam cheekily took a photo of me with the guards. Another tuk tuk ride back to the hotel!



Adam’s shirt had arrived at reception so after freshening up, we got dressed up and Adam wore his new shirt. With the ticket we had bought it included food and transport. We arrived at the Theatre complex which included a Thai village. We went and enjoyed a lovely buffet style dinner and then continued into the village. In the village we saw elephants and after much persuasion from Adam I got a bit closer to one of them and even fed it some sugar cane (well it helped himself). It was then time to go and see the show. Our ticket number was V42, I thought we would be stuck right at the back but as soon as we walked in we noticed that V was only 4 rows from the front.
Before the show could start we all had to stand to the national anthem which was a bit bizarre, however from talking to people, Thai people seem to be very patriotic to their King and Queen and even wear yellow shirts with the King’s emblem.
The show started and it was wonderful. The story was about Thai culture and beliefs and was told in the form of dance. Colourful costumes, fantastic backdrops and even had a river built into the stage, which apparently holds the record for the highest stage in the world. It was a fantastic evening’s entertainment!