Close Ups and Rooftops at Wat Phra Kaew and the Grand Palace

We arrived here just in time to take advantage of a free guided tour that showed us the highlights of Wat Phra Kaew, including the Emerald Buddha.  There is an amazing amount of gold, glass, and glitter at this place.  There is also an amazing amount of tourists milling about.  The only way to get a photo that doesn't contain a clump of random people is to either do roof line shots or close ups. Fortunately, this is the perfect place to take those types of pictures.

3 different rooftop styles: Sri Lankan (the gold one), Thai style, and Thai style with Cambodian tower.

Okay, so we did manage to find one uncrowded corner. 

One of the seated Buddhas at Phra Mondop, the home of sacred Buddhist texts. 

Example of the detail on Phra Mondop. 

Beautiful golden decorations...and a pigeon.  

A rare corner of greenery. 

Many of the entrances are protected by mythical creatures.

Rakshasa guardian (I think...).

An aponsi, half-woman, half-lion. 

A small section of the Ramakien Murals (they are over a kilometre long).

Garuda on a rooftop. 

How busy was it?  Here's a pic of people going in and out of one of the buildings.