The Golden Palace

Quatchi decided to sleep in (again)....so Tom went with his good buddy Marot to the Golden Palace - in Bangkok.

What a wonderful place it was, and a photographer's dream. Check out The Grand Palace at http://www.palaces.thai.net/ for more info.

Marot was a fantastic host, patiently waiting while Tom took snapshots of anything golden, which was pretty well all of the 218,000 square meters of the Golden Palace!

Perhaps the highlight of the tour was stepping inside the Royal Monastery of the Emerald Buddha, and catching a glimpse of The Emerald Buddha itself. The Emerald Buddha has three outfits, a summer outfit, a rainy season outfit, and a winter outfit (just like Mika) - but his outfits are personally changed three times a year by His Majesty the King. Of course, no photos were allowed, but if you step outside the door, and use a long lense (with a steady hand) you get a pretty good shot. (below)

Another must-see section of The Golden Palace were the Grand Galleries - the walls of which are decorated with beautiful scenes from the Ramakien. If you look really, really closely - you actually see some pretty 'naughty' things happening in the scenes. Tom could easily have spent a full two days just taking photos of the scenes. A few more of his shots will be posted to Mika's blog - on the right hand side.

After spending a very hot and sunny afternoon at The Golden Palace, Marot took me to meet her lovely Mom, and we all had a delicious Chinese lunch together. It was a great day - Quatchi should have been there, but he was still a little shook up from the beating he took at the hands of that two year old Bangkok Bully.

Thanks Marot, for a wonderful day!