Bangkok was an overwhelming city to say the least and Alex and I certainly had different impressions of the city, meaning I was much more overwhelmed by the traffic and the noise and underwhelmed by the food (blogging world don’t hate me!), whereas Alex had a much different experience. However, once I set foot in the Grand Palace and got away from all the traffic I felt that maybe this was what I had been searching for in Bangkok. The temples were gilded and beautifully mosaic, the Buddhas massive and all seeing, and the royal palace as decadent and as eastern as I thought it would be. The Grand Palace was definitely one of my favorite parts of Bangkok, despite having to buy a touristy t-shirt to cover my shoulders (scarves do not cut it in Asia). I could have spent hours there admiring the soaring architecture of the temples and palace buildings. Here are just a few of my photos from the Grand Palace just so you can have a little glimpse of its splendor!
Obviously I was quite taken with all the little details and guardians who had a tendency to look straight into my soul and therefore I took dozens if not a hundred photos of these guys. The Grand Palace did live up to my expectations of Thailand and even though I was not totally sold on Bangkok between the Grand Palace and Rawaii I was sold on Thailand.
In Pursuit of Adventure 
Is the palace still in use? It’s remarkably well-preserved and your photos do it justice. Very funny that “farang” is their term for foreigner – it’s very similar to “faranji,” which is the Ethiopian word for foreigner (I hear it several times daily in Addis Ababa). Thanks for sharing your experience!
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The palace is still used for official ceremonies and things like that but the King does not live there anymore. The temples are also still active places of worship even though tourists are also allowed in.
Thanks so much for the compliment!
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What a beautiful building – love that decoration. Cool pics and a nice article!
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Looks gorgeous! I’m one of the few who haven’t been to Thailand, but this palace looks really cool.
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I remember trying to see it the first time I arrived in Bangkok. The Tuk Tuk driver told me it was closed and I totally fell for it. He ended up taking me to some gemshop instead (hey! it was my first time in Thailand lol). But when I did get to see it, the detail was magnificent. Your photos bring back the colors of such a wondrous experience…thank you
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Yet another amazing place in southeast Asia…
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I have been dreaming about visiting southeast Asia for ten years or so… Your pictures are fantastic and only inspire more of my wanderlust!
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Beautiful temple, love all the gold!
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I love that you shared your true feelings of being overwhelmed and not enjoying the food. You should never be sorry, there are many people reading your work that may relate to you and want to hear all aspects of your travels. We aren’t alway going to have dreamy experiences. I’m glad you found what you were looking for by getting out of the city. This temple is so colorful and involved, it’s beautiful to say the least. Your pictures are fantastic!
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Beautiful building! I’m very interested in different monasteries and traditional Asian buildings. I’d love to see some of them in my own eyes. And hm… I don’t like traffic and many people either so I really understand why you felt overwhelmed in the city.
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Beautiful photos! I also loved the palace and found the noise and traffic in Bangkok overwhelming! But the food…oh, the food, I loved it…like everywhere else in SE Asia
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The details in the Thai architecture are amazing, I could easily spend all day taking pictures!
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It’s easy, I definitely did!
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Awesome pictures. I love the detail in the architecture. I wonder how long it tool to build considering all the small details in the interior and exterior.
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Beautiful pictures. I like the architecture, colors and the gold a lot. I was in Laos a couple of years ago and it reminded me a little about it when I read your post.
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Such an incredible architecture that you’ve captured very well through your lens! The gold in the statues and the temple and the pictures of guardians are beautiful, and seem to be very well preserved by the country.
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Great set of pics. I have visited that palace and loved it too, heard that many tourists were scammed on the way unfortunately! Anyway, looks like you had a great time, definitely one of the best Bangkok sights!
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Yes there is a lot to see of the palace and the surrounding grounds and temples all the elaborate displays are quite overwhelming which happens to a lot of sites that have everything at one time in Thailand.
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Such a cool place! I’ve been twice, I really should check out some of Bangkok’s other temples next time though!
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There is so much to see in Bangkok. Perhaps that’s another reason I was overwhelmed by it! So little time!
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Wow, amazing photographs. I really thought the Grand Palace was worth exploring too- as long as you manage to avoid getting scammed on the way in and out! So many interesting details and fabulous colours! Thanks for sharing.
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Five pics from the bottom – that’s quite the Goddess. She’s scare me. 🙂
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