The view from my balcony at the Peninsula Hotel. The Chao Phraya River cuts through the middle of Bangkok, and is as dirty as it looks.
The hotel had these great little boats to cross the river to the main part of the city. I took this shot of them at night, and though they're not very clear, I still think they look kinda pretty.
My first view of the Grand Palace in Bangkok, from outside the gates. It is both a royal residence and the home of the most sacred object in Thailand, the Emerald Buddha.
Statue of the seated hermit at the Grand Palace.
The Royal Pantheon at the Grand Palace.
Closeup of monkey and devil figures at the base of a golden stupa outside the Royal Pantheon. These were the coolest looking things, and I can't believe I only took one picture.
Half-human, half-deer figure in front of the Royal Pantheon (facing out at more of the Grand Palace complex).
Long shot of half-human, half-deer statue outside the Royal Pantheon.
Two giants guarding an entrance to the Grand Palace.
There is a model of Angkor Wat at the Grand Palace. This model in no way prepared me for how challenging it was going to be to climb up the towers.
A buddha statue outside the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. I don't have any photos of the Emerald Buddha itself, because there is no photography is allowed inside the temple.
Gilted buddhas at a shrine in the Grand Palace.
Detail of the mosaic work on the outside of the Temple of the Emerald Buddha at the Grand Palace.
Thai schoolchildren at the Temple of the Emerald Buddha.
Me, at the Grand Palace. I picked this spot because it was the only place I could find to set my camera down to use the self-timer. However, some nice Dutch guy saw me struggling to get it to work and took this for me.
Chakri Maha Prasat Hall at the Grand Palace. (Yes, I had to go look the name up on the Internet.)
Another building at the Grand Palace. I have no recollection of what it is called because I was verging on heatstroke at this point and really just wanted to sit down somewhere in the shade.
Another nameless building at the Grand Palace.
The head of the city-block-long Reclining Buddha.
The feet of the Reclining Buddha, which have amazing mother-of-pearl inlays.
Full-length shot of the Reclining Buddha. I had to wait about 15 minutes to get one with no people in it.
One of the main methods of transport in Bangkok is water taxi along the Chao Phraya. I took a few shots of the river as we zoomed along.
A floating pile of leaves (similar to lilypads in ponds) and debris in the Chao Phraya.
Boats and high-rise buildings along the Chao Phraya.
Chinatown in Bangkok. Easily the most crowded, confusing place I have ever been in my life. None of these pictures do justice to the massive swarms of people, cars, and vendors crammed into this area.
Another shot of Chinatown. Note that there are so many people on the sidewalk that folks are just walking in the road, which doesn't cause drivers to stop, like it might here.
The most frustrating part of Chinatown was that there was food everywhere but I couldn't figure out how to buy any of it.
A random temple on the outskirts of Chinatown, notable primarily for the fact that it had benches where I could sit down. I found Bangkok to be terribly short on benches overall. Any city that hot should have places to rest.
The Chintatown arch, which is actually quite similar to the arch in DC's Chinatown.
The entrance to the main house at the Jim Thompson House complex. Jim Thompson was an American expat who moved to Thailand after WW2 and built a complex of teak houses using traditional Thai building methods.
The Buddha seen through this doorway is thought to be one of the oldest in Thailand. It no longer has a head, but they know it's Buddha because of the objects he carries.
A shrine to Buddha at the Jim Thompson House. It's very small and on a pillar in the garden -- I thought it was a birdhouse when I first saw it.
Detail of some woodwork at the Jim Thompson House.
Elephant topiary!
Chatuchak Weekend Market, a shopping experience not for the faint of heart. It offers acres upon acres of shopping crammed into what seems mostly like an incredibly large, close-quartered storage facility. It might actually be hell, with merchandise.
Another shot of Chatuchak market, which, like the Chinatown photos, pales in comparision to how hot, crowded, and confusing it is. On the upside, you can get lots and lots of things for very little money and then laugh at the prices every time the Pottery Barn catalog comes for months.
