Look at how big this place is.
All that that we saw was only this.
There's still all this here.
Can you do it with this heat?
-No. -[laughs]
Yes, we can.
[music]
Thank you.
There's no easy way to get here.
Your best option is to come by taxi or Grab car.
If you're staying close to the river,
you can also come by boat.
Welcome to Bangkok's Old Town.
The Grand Palace has barely opened,
and look at the amount of tourists already here.
It's beautiful.
-What time is it? -8:40.
This image here is unbeatable.
When you see this, you think "Yes, I arrived."
-Can I pay with credit card? -Yes, you can.
-Oh, great -It's all here
-Oh, thank you.
-Khob khun ka [thank you in Thai]. -Khob khun ka.
-Sawasdee ka [hello in Thai]. Khob khun ka.
-It's a world of people, huh? -Wow!
Yeah.
So they have all these languages here.
As soon as you get in, who greets you?
The Hermit Doctor.
He's the patron of medicine in Thailand.
A lot of Thais come here to pray and ask for health for them
and their family members.
The most common guided tour you can do here in Bangkok
is to visit the Grand Palace and also the temples, right?
And it can be very worth it for the convenience
and also the information you get.
But it also can be very expensive.
I did it in my very first trip to Bangkok, 15 years ago.
I was intimidated by the whole chaotic city here,
and it was very worth it.
But if you're on a budget
or if you'd rather do everything by yourself,
I'll show you how you can easily visit the three most famous temples here
in the same day.
So, stay tuned for the next video as well.
[music]
One very important piece of advice: pay attention to what you're wearing.
You must wear pants.
You must cover your knees and also your shoulders,
both men and women.
Do you see all these people? They had to buy pants
or a sarong outside,
because there's a very strict dress code here.
I'm Renata, I'm a journalist
And I create travel videos where I show
how you can have the same experiences
without all the hassles.
So if you like to travel or if you just want to see
different parts of the world,
consider subscribing.
When you hear this name "Grand Palace",
you imagine one big palace, right?
But, actually, it's a complex here with multiple buildings.
You cannot go inside most of them, though.
This is where the kings of Thailand
used to live between 1782 and 1925.
And all this here was built in three years.
It's very impressive.
Today, this is a place of worship and big ceremonies.
This is probably the most expensive attraction you'll visit in Bangkok.
฿500.
But this for foreigners because for Thais, it's free.
So beware of certain agencies that offer a guide for a very low price,
and then you have to cover the entry fees for the guide
in all the places you go.
Because here, for example, it is free.
Pro tip: as soon as you arrive at the Grand Palace,
come directly to the most sacred place in this entire complex.
It's this temple here called Wat Phra Kaew,
and this is where the Emerald Buddha is.
It's a holy image here,
a very respected and venerated image in Thailand.
At this time, it's not as busy yet,
so it's going to be a little easier for you to go inside
and have some time there to admire.
This is holy water.
Right before getting in, you come here, there's a holy water,
with this lotus flower,
and this is for your protection and good health.
This is what you do.
Gordon, let me bless you.
Here, stay right here.
It's for your protection.
[laughs]
No cameras there inside.
If you have good enough zoom with your lens,
you can film it from here.
This Buddha is super tiny, just 60 centimeters tall,
like 2 feet tall.
That's it.
And unlike the name suggests, it was not made of emerald.
It was made of jade. It is a solid, massive piece of jade.
It's believed that it was created some 2,000 years ago in India.
And then, it made its way to Sri Lanka, to Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand,
to Laos, until he finally found a home here in Bangkok.
[music]
All this here that we see is covered with gold.
Very impressive.
Interesting fact about the Emerald Buddha:
It changes clothes according to the seasons here in Thailand.
So, they have three seasons: summer, winter, and the rainy season.
You know that golden piece on top of the Buddha?
That's actually his clothes.
And only the king can change his clothes.
So there's a whole ceremony that the king comes here
and changes clothes and everything.
Look at the amount of people as we leave.
There's a free tour in English here.
Look at that: 10:00, 10:30,
1:30, and 2:00 p.m.
It's perfect for us.
10 to 10:00, I'm already here waiting for it.
-Good morning.
We take a photo with me first, and then we go to our tour
Come on, come on! Yes, sir, come.
[laughs]
He was not joking.
[laughs]
We can see the real gold.
We can touch, but don't take home.
Just touch it.
[laughs]
Okay, he said we can touch, I touch.
-You're touching already, right?
-I did touch, yeah.
Because it's real gold...
Do you know when you're touching real gold?
It's not hot, do you see?
-Ah. -Do you feel? Not hot.
-That's true. -It's normal.
-Yeah. -This is normal. It's real.
With the heat today, it's probably like 40 degrees,
100 degrees Fahrenheit.
You'd imagine that all this would be extremely hot, right?
Not really.
Gold doesn't get as hot like other types of metal.
It's amazing.
Here inside there's a very important relic,
a little piece of hair from Buddha.
Nobody can go in, only the king,
once a year on April 15th,
New Year's Day. Thai New Year's Day, April 15th.
[music]
In this temple, we have a demon guardian.
Demon guard, we use them to protect the temple from the bad spirits.
Like when we come inside the temple, the evil follows you.
It cannot. The demon keeps the bad away.
That's why it brings luck for you.
But the demon, this guy is not from Buddhism,
they come from Hinduism.
Lots of Hindu figures here like this one.
Hindu outside, Buddhist inside.
A building that is typical of Thailand,
it's narrow on top
and wider at the bottom.
And the bells all the way at the top
are to scare the bad spirits when it winds.
These are not from Thailand.
This is from Spain.
I say no, it's Brazil
Brazil, the colors!
Yeah! [laughs]
Brazil! But these are all 'Español'
Elephants are a symbol of power in Thailand.
This is why they are the symbol of the country.
-Follow me, please.
We got a lion man. We also have a lion woman.
Not you, right? Over here.
[laughs]
Lion woman. This is...
Also a bit of big power. That's our guardian.
-And they're all good?
-All good. They're all good. -All good.
-Before, not good, but now, good.
-Now good. [laughs]
Very beautiful! Here, nice!
Look at me. Sexy, sexy.
One, two, three.
-Khob khun ka [thank you in Thai]. -Perfect.
Our guide even brings us to the best places for pictures.
Why we have three? Because...
In Thailand we have three seasons: summer, rainy and winter.
In Bangkok, how many seasons in Bangkok, ma'am, sir?
Bangkok, how many seasons?
-Woman: One. -One.
-Hot. -Hot. No, three.
-Hot, hotter, and hottest.
They change every season. Every four months... by whom?
-Who changes? -The king.
The king only! Very good.
The king comes, and then dresses the Buddha three times a year by himself.
If you bring your own bottle, you can refill it here for free.
Long time ago, this place was not the Grand Palace
What was it? They called it Chinatown
Because there were Chinese living here before.
Then we leave... or move all the Chinese people from here to where?
Do you know where they are now?
-Chinatown. -Chinatown now. Yes, correct.
-Uh-oh.
We just lost our guide.
He went that way and it says no re-entry from here.
There are certain areas inside the Grand Palace
that you cannot go back.
And we want to be here to take some more pictures.
It's a shame because I was loving the tour.
He was so good.
[music]
We're now ready to cross.
Look at how big this place is.
All that that we saw was only this.
There's still all this here.
Can you do it with this heat?
-No. -[laughs]
Yes, we can.
Yellow is the color of royalty.
That's why yellow all over.
[music]
This hall here is a lying-in-state hall of kings, queens,
and the members of the royal family.
Probably where they brought the late King Rama IX.
He passed a few years ago.
And he was so beloved here in Thailand.
He was on the throne for 70 years, 7-0.
This, baby, this was the former residence.
-Oh. -Yeah, yeah, yeah.
True royal palace.
Look at this palace.
So massive, so beautiful.
The only building here mixing European architecture in the bottom
with Thai architecture on the roof.
So beautiful!
-Oops.
-Can you do it with this heat? Can you handle?
[laughs]
What is that?
-I'm a statue. -You're a statue?
-You're competing with them? -Yeah.
I think French is one baht
-It's one. -No, it's free at 1.
-Free at 1. -Yeah.
-You have to wait until 1 to get it
[laughs]
-That is funny.