A trip up a very fast flowing and rather grubby looking river and you arrive at the pier that will lead you through to the Grand Palace and the Emerald Buddha. Once you get through the people trying to sell you a bottle of water for 20baht - it is 7baht elsewhere - the tuk tuk drivers trying to scam you saying that the Palace is closed and the tour guides trying to scam you saying you cannot go into the Palace dressed as you are - if you stop to chat they each try and take you someplace else where they receive a commission or scam you into a tour - then it truly is grand. There are rules to what you can and cannot wear to walk around the area but if you are not suitably dressed then there are shirts and sarongs etc. that can be borrowed for the occasion. There is so much gold, gold leaf, gems and all things that sparkle everywhere and the Wat that houses the emerald Buddha is enormous and very elaborate to house such a small Buddha - compared to others around Bangkok it is minuscule - sorry, you cannot take photos. I have been to a lot of the tourist places around Bangkok before but it was worth seeing this again. On the boat ride back along the river I stopped at a local flower market. It is a wholesale market for flowers as well as fruit and vegs and it is a massive area just brimming in piles of chillies, all different sizes, and garlic and onions and herbs and spices, but this is not really a market for your usual kitchen purchases, people were buying chillies in drum fulls and onions and garlic by the truck load. Away from the fruit and veggies are the flower stalls, again mainly for bulk purchasing but you could pick up a dozen roses for one dollar - no excuses for saying it with flowers here. The only disappointment was that there was no beautiful aroma of flowers floating over everywhere, the roses must just not be scented.
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