We landed in Bangkok, Thailand, and stayed with an old friend and his wonderful family. Both he and I took initiation from the same Guru back in the early 70s.  We have remained close friends to this day.

The first temple we visited was the Emerald Buddha in Bangkok, Thailand.  When Liz and I visited it, we did not know it was located within the Royal Palace.  The palace and temple were both phenomenal.

Before providing a short history of the Grand (Royal) Palace and showing a few pictures, I want to let you know that Thailand is the only country in this part of the world (Asia in general), that was never conquered by outside forces.  It's also important to know that, at one time, Thailand's empire included Laos, Cambodia, Burma and parts of Viet Nam.  They are very proud of this and, at the same time, I found the Thai people to be one of easiest folks to be around.  Although most of them are not fluent in English, all they want to do is please and be of service to you.  As you leave the airport, there is a large sign saying "Land of the Smiles."  It's true; everyone is always smiling.  They are very easy people to be around and if you ever need help, they are always ready to assist in whatever way they can.

The Royal Palace of Thailand

Construction to build the palace (the Tower of Gold) began in 1782. It started with King Rama 1 (King Buddha Yofa Chulaloke) when he decided to move the royal quarters across the river from Thonburi on the west bank of the river Choa Phraya to the east bank, Bangkok. It was not only to be the residence of the royal family but also serve as the centre of the government. It was surrounded by a defensive wall which was 1900 meters in length and enclosed an area of 218, 400 meters.

As each king came to power, they all added temples within the Royal Palace, so construction were continuous. Each of the kings, from King Rama 1 to King Rama 10 (the present King) used the palace as the centre of government and most as its residence.

Here's a shot of the Royal Palace today.

When entering the palace, men and women had to be properly covered.  Loose-fitting pants bottoms and tops were available at the entrance if you weren't properly covered.  Most westerners were in shorts and tank tops since it was about 85 degrees and humid.  The sign at the entrance (as with all the temples we entered in southeast Asia) also asked that you not kiss in public (this is considered offensive to the Thai people), not to point with your feet (this was considered disrespectful), and also not to pat kids or adults on their head (this, too, showed disrespect because the top of our head is where our crown chakra resides and to pat someone there would be cutting off their spiritual energy).

The Palace grounds were immaculate. It reminded me in many ways of the Taj Mahal. But here the fine workmanship on the temples and buildings were done in wood and ceramic and then painted over (the wood in gold leaf). The Taj Mahal was all marble.

It was all quite dazzling. The gold leaf, the marble covered grounds, spectacular ceramic covering on the temples. It was all very breath taking.

The Pagodas could be seen from all around the palace and might be the most recognizable part of the Grand Palace. See picture below.

Three pagodas each had a different style of architect. The first is of the modern Thai style, the second is the old Thai style and the thirds has the Cambodian influence to its style. As you can see they look to be made of gold, but are just layered in gold leaf.  The very first pagoda has some of Lord Buddha's ashes within. All three are closed to the public.

Another wonderful sight was when we came upon the miniature replica of Angor Wat which was added by King Rama the third (King Nangkloa), since Khmer Empire and Siam/Thai empires share much and the same culture and religion. Liz and I would be seeing the beautiful temple in a few more days. In the background of the small replica, you can see two other temples that were added by kings during different reigns.

There are so many more beautiful sights to share with you that I could go on forever. Liz and I plan on showing our friends and family more pictures in depth and, hopefully, some of you can join us.

In the weeks to come, the Ah-Man Blog will be updated with photos of the Emerald Buddha temple, some other temples in Thailand, the Angor Wat and two other temples in Cambodia and temples in Bali.