Thu 4 May
Wanted to go to the Grand Palace early today to avoid some of the 20 000 to 40 000 people who visit daily to pay their respects to the dead king. We were told by a guide at the entrance that it was only opened to Thais until 13:00h as monks were praying with them. He then pointed out on my map other places to go by tuk-tuk. He then hailed a tuk-tuk driver and gave him instructions.
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| Tuk-tuks lining the streets |
When we were in the temple of the White Buddha, we were told that today was a "prayer day" so tuk-tuk drivers could only charge tourists 100 Baht to take tourists to various sites and wait for them at each place. The sites also included some warehouses (tourist traps?) where we were expected to spend a certain amount of time before moving on. We were a bit quick at the first warehouse and our driver said we should "be more looking, looking". If we followed the rules properly he would then get a stamped voucher to get 5 litres of petrol for their tuk-tuk paid for by the government.
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| The White Buddha |
Back at the Grand Palace the crowds were enormous and we were melting. We headed to a local cafe for lunch - we were soaked and it was air conditioned.
We had paid for a late checkout at the hotel so we could shower and rest before heading to the airport for our very late (or very early) 00:01h flight.
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| Waiting ... waiting. |
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