Bangkok - Temples & Palaces

 

We were in Bangkok for three days, part of it on our own and part of it with the tour group. The major landmarks are temples and the Grand Palace. The Wat Arun, Temple of Dawn, stunningly different from the other temples and standing apart on the west bank of the river, was easily my favourite temple among all the temples we visited in Bangkok - and yet it was not on our tour agenda.  I was glad we visited on our own on that first day.

We also visited a temple not on the regular tour list, Loha Prasat (Metal Castle). We were there in late afternoon just as the sun hit the gold on the building.  It was particularly striking...and there were no crowds.

I enjoyed the gigantic Reclining Buddha - it was pretty awesome and worth the lineup, which moved along fairly quickly even with people making stops for selfies, although frankly it's an impossible task - far easier to get someone to take a photo for you.

The Grand Palace was too grand for words but too crowded to be truly enjoyable - it was almost terrifyingly crowded, an experience I would hesitate to recommend no matter how grand the buildings. The National Museum which we visited on our own afterwards was a quiet haven which allowed us to recover from the trauma of the palace crowds.  This will be in the next post. 

Practical tip:
- Apart from the required temple dress code, wear socks or have sockettes available if you don't want to walk around with bare feet on floors that the world had walked through - you will be required to take off your shoes at the temples. At the Emerald Buddha temple, it is best to have your guide watch over your shoes because of the huge crowds.

The central stupa at Wat Arun from different perspectives - you can walk up this stupa to different levels

From the front entrance

This buddha behind bars at the top of one of the stupas

There were different temples with more traditional architecture at Wat Arun

An emerald buddha in one of the temples - this is NOT the famous emerald buddha, which was moved from Wat Arun to the Grand Palace

Rows of buddhas in long galleries - we would find this is a repeated theme at many temples

Over the top trimmings!

The beginning of the 344 steps up to the "Golden Mountain" at Wat Saket

This is another ornate temple not on the regular tourist route  - Loha Prasat; we hit it at the golden hour, making the gold more golden than ever!

The giant reclining buddha at Wat Pho - worth the short lineup to see it - it's quite spectacular

This is a little over halfway...

Here are the toes...

Even the back of the head was something else

Stupas and long galleries outside Wat Pho (Temple of the Reclining Buddha) - there will be more of these at every temple we visit

This is the crowd jostling to get in so they can walk in front of the Emerald Buddha, below - you can decide whether it's worth it...

There are six pairs of these demons guarding the Emerald Buddha

One of several temples on the Grand Palace grounds - this one actually had space for you to sit and pray!

This one with porcelain tiles reminded me of Wat Arun

This gold stupa is supposed to contain the relics of Buddha

The Buddhist Library built in 1789 - door panels are inlaid with mother of pearl.

Model of Angkor Wat, the Khmer temple in Cambodia - the King had this built so his subjects can see what the Khmer ruins looked like.

Statue of Cheewok Komaraphat - patron of Thai medicine and a doctor of the Lord Buddha

There are Chinese statues scattered throughout the palace grounds - these were used as ballasts when the Thai people were trading with China

One of many side gardens in the Grand Palace complex with Chinese statues

I love the energy of these demons and monkeys holding up the gold stupa - these are important characters in the Ramakien story (Thai national epic derived from the Hindu epic Ramayana)

Wat Arun at night