The Grand Palace – Bangkok, Thailand

Prohibited Outfits: Sleeveless shirt, vest, short top, see-through, short pants, torn pants, tight pants, culottes, mini skirt, sleeping suits, and sportswear. The sign greeted us as we entered the Grand Palace in Bangkok. Looking at my buddies, I knew that we’re in trouble.

Ready. Aim. Click.

But then, there’s a free clothes to borrow area where you can, well, borrow some decent clothes while you visit the palace complex. But then you have to pay 200 baht (US$ 6) per clothing item for deposit and then you have to proceed to counters this and that for the next step. We didn’t do that, of course, we went outside and bought new pants and shirt for the guys, no hassle (check here for discounted tours, transportation and activities in Bangkok).

Garbed in our most decent temple attire, we went inside the Grand Palace complex and queued for the tickets; 500 Baht (US$ 15) per person. It was two in the afternoon and we have an hour and a half to spare on this huge complex. The Grand Palace is a usual stop for tourists so expect troops of crowd around here.

We hurriedly went inside and scattered as we checked out the temples, courts and palace. We didn’t have time to look at the map and the names of the structures, we just went on wherever our feet led us.

The temples were ornately designed with different appliques of shiny materials. As grand and royal as it was, the temples gleamed with gold - striking as the glare of the sun. We went further and discovered a lot more temples deep inside the complex.

The Grand Palace (Phra Borom Maha Ratcha Wang) is located at the heart of Bangkok in Thailand. The complex houses numerous structures that were added around the palace during the successive reigns of different dynasties. Although the current monarch doesn’t reside here anymore, certain state functions and royal ceremonies are still being held here every year.

A certain signal indicated that it was time for us to leave. The tour was very fleeting but it was just the right dose of temple run for that day; we don’t wanna be templed out. Plus, we were really looking forward to our late afternoon dip at Sofitel So Bangkok's infinity pool.

Grabbing a cab was tough; haggling is the way to go in Bangkok and the metered ones were easily picked up by other tourists. A cabbie went in front of us announcing that he’ll bring us to our hotel for 100 Baht (US$ 3). We agreed immediately. And then he told us that he needed to go somewhere, like a gasoline station or souvenir shop, to check out something and we instantly jumped out of the cab. Scammer alert.