'Welcome Everyone, to the Forbidden City' is what I imagine Chairman Mao's portrait is saying to the visitors streaming over the bridge and in through the gates.
With the rain moving away, I continued my exploration around the pavilions of the Wat Phra Kaew which lies within the walls of the Grand Palace in Bangkok. It's the home of the Emerald Buddha, not that I actually got to see that sacred carving on this particular day.
Once the rain had moved on, I was able to step out from my temporary shelter and resume wandering aimlessly around. I didn't have any set goal for that day, I had just decided to wander around the Wat Phra Kaew to see what I could see.
I snapped this image of part of the Grand Palace in Bangkok while racing up the Chao Phraya as a passenger in one of those long-tail boats. Later in the day I went back to the Wat Phra Kaew which is in the north-east corner of the Grand Palace complex and open to the public and I'll post some images from there in the coming days.