THE GRAND PALACE (First of 2 Today)

(Note: We're exactly half-way around the world, 12 hours ahead of the Eastern Standard Time at home.)

A week after clambering around the most revered site in Cambodia (Angkor Wat), we took the river ferry to the most revered spot in Thailand --- The Grand Palace. Send me a new batch of superlatives, I've run out!

The details are numbing. Established by King Rama I in 1782, 4 square kilometres, throne halls, admin offices, exquisite architecture/gardens/museums/setting. This is still the Royal Residence, like Buckingham Palace, but Thailand's King is venerated above all else---to publicly disrespect or ridicule the King gets you a prison sentence or worse. You can Google all the history and conflicts and intrigue. But the overall effect is staggering, especially in the gold glaring at you from every direction in the bright sun. This is NOT the excess of Las Vegas or Disney World, this is all real, hand-made, and mostly sacred.

Any bare skin must be covered, so Pat rolled down her Capri's but like most visitors I had to rent some pants.Then you wander for hours among the stupas, towers, devils, serpents, belfry, murals, gates, gardens, and other glinting features. It is overwhelming in detail and mind-blowing that it could have been built at all. The most holy room houses the Emerald Buddha, carved from a single block of jade and to be worshiped, not allowed to be photographed (that's the off-angle picture I took from the hip--- risking prison to bring you this!!)

On the grounds is also the Queen's Museum of Textiles, showcasing all her ceremonial wardrobe over her 60-year reign. No photos allowed there, either (I'm not THAT crazy!) but she seems to have evolved from  a Jackie Kennedy to an elegant symbol and inspiration for modern Thai women. Dazzled and awed, we took another river boat home and ordered a box of superlatives.