Gardeners at the Grand Palace, Bangkok

The Grand Palace was just too grand really. I have many shots of buddhas and gold and dragons and colour but nothing does it justice. We visited the Palace the day after Loy Krathong and it became apparent during our visit that something official was about to happen at the Palace - possibly related to the festival the previous day. Or not, who knows. But gradually more and more people in official uniforms started to appear, lots of checking watches, some buddhist monks turned up, trucks filled with plants whizzed by, we were politely ushered towards exits and the masses of tourists who had been there on our arrival seemed to have all but disappeared. Blacked out cars were saluted and much cleaning and preening seemed to be happening, including the trimming of the hedges.