Hi guys! Welcome back to my blog. Today I'll be sharing about my trip to the Grand Palace in Bangkok, Thailand!
Just a quick disclaimer, I took lots of pictures on my phone but almost as soon as I touched down in Malaysia, my phone was stolen (and my gallery sync was off 😭). I still have some shots, but I'm making do with what little I could salvage from my IG story + camera. Also, I'll be making a blog post about my travellog + my stay in another post, so stay tuned!
We visited the Grand Palace on our last day, and I put the visit on the last day of our Thailand trip because I thought that a couple of hours would be enough to visit everything (as it was a Monday). Jokes on me, because not only were there a lot of Chinese tourists, the palace grounds were also humongous. If you're planning to visit I advise setting aside one whole day (at least from 10am till sunset) so you can fully explore the area + take pictures everywhere.
We checked out of our place in Resort V Huai Kwang at around 11am and took a taxi to the nearest Lock Box in Huai Kwang to store our luggage (Grab car cost B170, which was weird because it was so near). Lockbox is pretty convenient, but the machine did not accept any bills (only coins) so do bring small change if you're planning to us it.
From there, we took a metered taxi to the Grand Palace that cost B120. Funnily enough, the distance that our taxi covered was actually further than the Grab ride before that, and I noticed that taxi rides are almost the same price or lower compared to Grab.
On the way to the palace itself, you'll see that there are other palaces, but they're not open to the public:
We checked out of our place in Resort V Huai Kwang at around 11am and took a taxi to the nearest Lock Box in Huai Kwang to store our luggage (Grab car cost B170, which was weird because it was so near). Lockbox is pretty convenient, but the machine did not accept any bills (only coins) so do bring small change if you're planning to us it.
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| Image credits: Coconuts.co |
From there, we took a metered taxi to the Grand Palace that cost B120. Funnily enough, the distance that our taxi covered was actually further than the Grab ride before that, and I noticed that taxi rides are almost the same price or lower compared to Grab.
On the way to the palace itself, you'll see that there are other palaces, but they're not open to the public:
Our driver dropped us off in front of the Ministry of Defence building, and it's right outside the Grand Palace complex:
There are no tall buildings around, and everything was either French looking or Thai-style.
If you look at the picture below, you'll see that there's a road junction. You actually have to cross the road to get to the main entrance:
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| Credits |
But there were little to no cars at that time, so we managed to get a few shots by the road!
OOTD:
Hat: H&M • Straw hat • RM30 (NP RM64.45)
Top: H&M • Green blouse • RM30 (as always, its another top I got from the ladies section ahaha. It looks good on me + it was super thin & suitable for Bangkok weather so don't judge!)
Pants: Monki • Wide Trousers
Shoes: JD • Nike Airmax 90
As I mentioned, you first cross the road to get to the entrance:
and although there's a side gate, tourists are not allowed in:
Entrance wasn't slow, but there is a strict dress code in place. The Grand Palace with The Temple of the Emerald Buddha is considered to be Thailand's most sacred site, so visitors must be dressed properly before being allowed in.
Men must wear long pants and shirts with sleeves (no tank tops). If you're wearing sandals or flip-flops you must wear socks (in other words, no bare feet.) Women must be modestly dressed as well: no see-through clothes, bare shoulders, etc. If you show up at the front gate improperly dressed, there is a booth near the entrance that can provide clothes to cover you up properly (a deposit is required).
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| Image credit: Dreamstime |
I'm not sure if it was the changing of the guards or just guards marching in general, but we managed to catch them by the entrance when we entered:
While Bo was lining up to collect a shawl to cover her arms, Euri and I turned right and found this European looking building!
People who were asked to line up for shawls went inside the building, and I saw that there were some stuff like bags and shawls for sale on the other side as well.
It was kinda interesting because I was expecting the whole place to be very Thai!
Next, we met up with Bo by the field overlooking Phra Siratana Chedi (the big golden spiral/pointed building)
People aren't allowed on the field and there are some chains to keep people off, but you can still easily take a picture with it as the background. Kinda good that they blocked it too because it saves so much photoshop time ahaha.
On the side you can see more western looking buildings:
And there's also an entrance to the palace/temple here but its closed off.
So far the places I've highlighted were kinda like the Grand Palace's courtyard which (although guarded) was open to public. To enter and see the rest of the palace complex (like the Emerald Buddha + the palace interior), you have to pay an entrance fee where (see the dot on the map below).
The entrance fee was B500, and since we didn't have enough time, we decided not to go in. This trip to Bangkok definitely isn't my last, so the next time I visit I'll be sure to allocate more time. I definitely wanna go on the river tour and explore the other temples around the palace!
Around the Grand Palace, there are other temples and shops where you can stop by for lunch or buy souvenirs from. We exited the palace complex and headed for these yellow buildings:
Further in there is a dock/jetty where you can board a boat for lunch or a river cruise. I took more pics with my phone but alas...
We had lunch near the dock/jetty and headed back to Siam after that via taxi (B110). It took us to MBK/Siam Center where we took some street shots:
I actually wanted to go hunt down 3 pink cafes/clothing stores that were very Instagrammable: Stylenanda's Pink Pool Cafe, Matchbox & Cintage. We didn't manage to go to Stylenanda because we didn't have enough time and we managed to pop in Matchbox for a bit (but my pics were in my lost phone), but we did manage to go to take some Cintage. Stay tuned for that blog post!
Till the next post!
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