Bangkok's Grand Palace

Finally! Months after our arrival in Thailand, we have managed to visit the Grand Palace in Bangkok on a sunny weekend afternoon. The Grand Palace and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha (which is in fact in jade) inside the palace complex is one of the touristic highlights in Bangkok and even Thailand as a whole. The palace and temple, dating back to the 18th century, is a feast of decoration. All buildings are decorated with lots of gold, small mirrors in different colours and a range of fine sculptures. The best way to get there is by boat from one of the river stops (there is a connection with the BTS (Skytrain). Attached some pictures to give an idea of what the complex looks like.

Thai winter

As our readers will know, we are now both in Bangkok. Nirmala's company has moved into their new offices near the Thai-Belgian bridge (see one of the previous posts) and Tom is working from home. It is now winter in Thailand, but this is a relative concept, even tough the country is experiencing a colder than usual winter this year. Temperatures in Bangkok are between 25°C and 33°C during the day but do drop to around 20°C or even less in the evening/at night. This are pleasant temperatures for Western Europe but it is cold for Thai standards. This being said, it is cooler in certain regions (mostly in the North) with temperatures around 10°C or less and, because of the unusually low temperatures, a state of urgency has been declared in some of those areas, where some people have even been suffering hypothermia. Attached some atmosphere pictures from Bangkok. The construction site is just outside our window: the old building in the middle is one of the few older buildings that has survived in Bangkok. It is the former Russian embassy, an early 20th century building now to be integrated into a new shopping complex with hotel. The top and bottom pictures are from two different bars in Bangkok, where you find an amazing selection of watering holes, often very modern and well designed. 

Indian New Year - Siam Niramit

Now that 2009 is well underway, a short update on our latest activities: we paid a quick visit to family in India for New Year's Eve, spending some time in Bangalore (recently renamed Bengaluru) and the Tamil Nadu countryside. Bangkok is less than 4 hours away by direct flight so we will most probably do some more visits in the future! Last week, we had our first visitor in Bangkok (Tom had one visitor, Yves, in Singapore last year). Patricia came over from Brussels (via Abu Dhabi where her sister is on a temporary assignment) to explore Bangkok and surroundings. It was her first visit to Asia. We went to see the "Siam Niramit" show one evening, this is a show giving an introduction to Thailand. While it is a bit touristy and even somewhat kitschy, it is good performance with some spectacular feats, such as live elephants and boats on stage! Certainly recommended for visitors.