Sunday, July 12, 2009

Exploring the Palaces of Petchaburi

Today I took a short but truly wonderful trip with Shanghai Tang to Petchaburi, a province around two hours south of BKK.

Our first stop was the Phra Nakon Khiri National Museum (constructed in 1859), a palace complex sitting on top of a hill with breath-taking views of Petchaburi.

We started with a very brief cable car ride to the top of the hill. We then explored the compound, which is a mix of a palace, a stupa, and a smallish temple all scattered on three main peaks of the hill top. The style of the structures is an elegant mix of Chinese, European, and Thai influences and the buildings seem to rise from a teeming canopy.

We also dropped by the imposing Phra Ram Ratchaniwet (constructed in 1910-1916), a resort house of King Rama VI. A German architect was commissioned to design the palace. The vast interior has dazzling touches of Jugendstil or Art Nouveau, with glazed tiles on the floor and the walls.

Obviously, the style is very European, but was adapted to tropical climate through numerous wide windows and grills on the walls to enhance air circulation. The steep roof was maintained though, which to me was just an awful waste of space. LOL. But then, palaces are mostly whimsical anyway.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

nice pics....keep it up.

khaz said...

so beautiful. are you friends with don? did you go around thailand with him?

fuchsiaboy said...

khaz, yes kawadjan is a very good friend. ;)



Kawadjan dahling, i think the steep roofing helps keep the place cooler when hot air rises in it.

the boomerang kid said...

hmn, malapit mo nang agawan ng korona si susan calo-medina. ang masasabi ko sa kanya: watchout! :p

Dawn Selya said...

lovely! you can be Thailand's Miss Tourism and sell the country effectively to lots of tourists. Ganda ng Thailand!

kawadjan said...

Anonymous: Thanks! But I clearly need a camera update. No more shoes.

Khaz: Yes.

Donita: Maybe nga. Pero may ceiling inside eh. That means wala ring circulation. They're basically replicating a house in Germany.

Zenaida: Alive pa si ateng Susan?

Dawn: I am THE major attraction in Thailand, you know? Charot!

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