Up early again we head to Wat Phra kaewand the grand palace. The most popular tourist destination in Bangkok. Again we were there early but this time we hadn’t beaten the crowds. That said it looked like it could get much busier. There were que barriers setup around the palace walls and across roads. To join the back of the que we had to follow the chicane for quite away, through security, offers of guides and buying of tea shirts. Unlike the other temple a shawl over the shoulders was not allowed (note the ugliest tourist t-shirt in the photos!)

The que was always moving thankfully but it still took 15 mins to get our tickets and into the temple. I expect later on the que could easily be hours long. I hate to think what it’s like in high season.

Due to its popularity, extra security and extra cost I thought it would be more impressive than Wat Po. But it wasn’t! In fact if I had to pick just one to visit again I would pick Wat Po. Don’t get me wrong it still worth a visit! We spent a couple hours looking around, counting Buddhas and exploring reflections in the golden structures. But it soon got to busy for us.

We decided to give the boys a break from the tourist trail and headed to a shopping mall. Not my normal haunt but here we found a cinema so the boys could watch incredibles 2. They laughed throughout but were bemused by the request to stand for the national anthem at the start.

Tomorrow we have a long drive but it will end at the beach 🙂