Day 5 - Dusit palace, fishies, river cruise

The Dusit Palace is the residence for the King of Thailand and the area open to public is the Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall. The style is entirely Italian Renaissance and Neo Classic, showcasing some replicas and real artworks that belonged to the palace. There's a huge stunning tapestry made entirely of silk that depicts possibly mythical or old stories from Thai history, and 2 wonderful wooden carvings. The roof has paintings of the King Chulalongkorn, his people and the Chakri Dynasty drawn by 2 Italian artists - Professor Galileo Chini and Carlo Riguli.
 In terms of attire, women can only where long shirts pass the knees or sarongs, otherwise they are bought for 50 baht on the palace grounds just outside the building. The patterns and variety of the sarongs are quite plain, so it's best to buy one elsewhere before entering. Also you can't where any sleeveless tops or shorts, and all belongings must be placed in a locker provided - including any cameras so unfortunately no images of the interior. 

Sadly the only time we ever got to enter the busy center of Bangkok was when we went to Siam Ocean World in the Siam Paragon Shopping Mall. As one of the largest aquariums in South East Asia, they have a wide collection of marine wildlife. With such enormous and beautifully arranged tanks, sitting back and just observing the different specimens was a very enjoyable and relaxing experience. Guests can also dress up and dive into the tank for an up-close encounter ;)

To finish off our last night here in Bangkok, we embarked on a river cruise on the RiverStar Princess along the Chaophraya River, with a dinner buffet and live music. It was great to feel the fresh cool breeze for once after spending such a hot and humid week, and the night light views of some of Thailand's famous tourist attractions was too good to miss.

[Mmm complimentary cocktail]

[Typical Thai desserts and fruits (except the chocolate cake). From top left to bottom: mango and sticky rice pudding, choc cake, wide selection of in season fruits (papaya, pineapple, watermelon, honeydew), I forget what the white stuff was but should be something coconuty, sweet gelatin desserts]

 [Dance performance on the ship]