Wat Phra Kaew and Grand Palace

For our next excursion, we stayed in Bangkok and visited Wat Phra Kaew (the Temple of the Emerald Buddha) and the Grand Palace. While we were there the country was in a period of royally-decreed national mourning to honour the memory of the king's elder sister, Princess Galyani Vadhana. She was lying in state at the Grand Palace, and the day we visited was the first day that the palace was opened to the public. As such, there were thousands of Thais lined up, all clad in black and white, to pay their respects to the princess.