A day playing tourist with visits to Wat Po with its giant reclining Buddha and a tuk tuk ride with 5 vehicles racing each other to the Grand Palace. I was trying to think of what the road rules are for tuk tuks, but not sure there are any. They drive on the wrong side of the road at break neck speed, head long into oncoming motor bikes who invariably dive for protection in the gutter.
Buddhas come in a multitude of poses: reclining, sitting, standing or walking. Arms folded, arms out stretched. And invariably with the eyes averted down. In Thailand there are 8 traditional poses on for each day of the week with 2 for Wednesday. Every person knows what day of the week they were born on and which is their Buddha.
I was looking at the golden temples in the Grand Palace and reminded of the Versailles exhibition we saw in Canberra while waiting for our Iranian visas to be processed, and thinking that globally all rulers must have spent most of their time either taxing the poor or raiding their neighbors to get enough funds to build a new palace or golden monument.
The King, who had been the longest reigning monarch, died last October. His body will lie in state for 12 months. Such was the following of the King that the queue of mourners to pay their final respects, each day is 6 hours long.