March 16th 2010: The Grand Palace, Wat Phra Keaw, Wat Po, Chao Phraya, and more

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Click on images below to enlarge:
Boat Ride Up The Chao Phraya River
The stately East Asiatic Company building, and another similar building next door.	Buildings--I think they're houses--with waterfront patios.	More-rundown buildings. I took this picture on a boat trip the following day.	Wat Arun, also known as the Temple of Dawn, is Khmer-style, and hence is similar to some temples I saw at Angkor in Cambodia and unlike other temples in Thailand. I like that I caught a longboat in the foreground.
Wat Arun again, this time seen in the afternoon.	A close-up of Wat Arun. Look at the detail! I took this picture the following day.	Wat Kalayanamitr. This is more like regular temples in Bangkok. I don't know what to say about the military ship in front. I took this picture the following day.	Wat Kalayanamitr again. I took this picture this day, in the afternoon.
Normal Thai temples, just visible above the trees.	A nice bridge framing a narrow canal. I took this picture the following day.	A wider canal (or even a river) branching off of the Chao Phraya. Notice the small river taxis and the buildings in the background. I took this picture the following day.	A compact, exuberant temple. I took this picture the following day.
The high-speed ferry we took up and down the river.	A map of the sites along and near the river. This encompasses most of the famous sites in Bangkok and everything we did during the daytime this day. Kept in case someone wants to pursue it. Our hotel is near the green line bridge two-thirds of the way down the map. The Grand Palace and such is a third down, east of the river.	Part two, the rest of the captions. Only worth reading if you really care.
The Grand Palace
Walking along the (western) edge of the Grand Palace complex.	The main entrance. (the north side, looking south)
The Temple of the Emerald Buddha (Wat Phra Kaew) complex
The Temple of the Emerald Buddha complex (a.k.a. Wat Phra Kaew) (which is within the Grand Palace complex), with its towers (front to back): Phra Siratana Chedi, Phra Mondop, Prasat Phra Dhepbidorn. Would be excellent if I cropped it to the just the three towers.	Hor Phra Rajphongsanusorn, the first sight upon entering the Wat Phra Kaew / Temple of the Emerald Buddha complex. Also note the gilded paintings on the wall.	Hor Phra Rajphongsanusorn again.	A large, fearsome creature stands guard near the entrance. Excellent.
A 180-degree panoramic movie taken near the complex's entrance and designed to show the style of Thai temple architecture. Note the number of buildings and their lifted, gilded roof adornments.	Excellent, guardians and towers, oh my.	Towers in various styles (Phra Siratana Chedi, Phra Mondop, Prasat Phra Dhepbidorn). These were previously visible in an earlier picture.	Look at the detailed moldings on Phra Mondop. It's not as rambunctious as the gopuram statues on Hindi temples, but it does have some of the same liveliness. Prasat Phra Dhepbidorn is in the background.
The Temple of the Emerald Buddha (Wat Phra Kaew) itself. I guess Thais like temples with columns.	Another perspective on the Temple of the Emerald Buddha (left), plus a line of small open-air buildings alongside the temple (right).	The entrance to the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. Gilded walls, gilded columns, gilded guards (which, incidentally, don't appear as formidable as the ones guarding the complex).	Inside the colonnade ringing the temple.
Sorry, pictures were not allowed inside the main temple of Wat Phra Kaew. :( Too bad: the buddha pantheon/towers were amazing.	A scale model (though not particularly tiny) of Angkor Wat. Pretty darn accurate. panorama	Phra Wiharn Yod.	A close-up of its flowery, porcelain tower.
Gosh my back hurts. Do you know how long I've been standing here? What are you looking at? Excellent if cropped just to the statue guard.	An excellent line of towers near the back of the complex.	A golden tower held up by many small, colorful statues.	Yup, there's a lot of temples (large and small) in this complex.