We woke up early the following day to begin our tour of Bangkok. The main focus was various Buddhist temples throughout the city, there are over 400 but we only visited 4 of them. We started at Wat Suthat which was built in the early 19th century, the temple is a royal temple and is home to the largest bronze Buddha image in Thailand. The statute is over 18 feet tall! The temple also features smaller Buddha statutes that are adopted by Thai families to house the ashes of their deceased family members. Each family is responsible for maintaining the statutes and you can tell who does it well and who doesn't! We spent some time in the main sanctuary hall (where the large Buddha is located) and we observed the murals on the walls which were all drawn to represent the previous lives of Buddha.
After Wat Suthat, we went Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha). This is the most sacred of all the temples in Thailand and is within the Grand Palace grounds, which has over 100 buildings. The building that holds the Emerald Buddha is known as Ubosot. The Buddha is only about 2 ft tall and sits high above the temple floor on an altar of gilded gold leaf. Alice told us that, out of respect, to not have our toes pointed toward the Buddha as that would represent great disrespect. We walked around the temple complex and were amazed at how intricate the detail of each building was, the upkeep alone is mind-boggling! We also walked by The Grand Palace which is the official residence of the King.
Wat Pho (Temple of the Reclining Buddha) was the next temple on our tour, this is home to the largest collection of Buddhas in Thailand including the 150 ft reclining Buddha. Apparently, the position of the reclining Buddha represents the entry of Buddha into Nirvana. The actual figure is covered in gilded gold and its feet are inlaid with mother of pearl panels. There were also 108 bronze bowls that you can drop coins into as part of meditation, wishes, and to bring good fortune. We weren't very patient with the people in front of us so we may have skipped a few bowls!
It was incredibly humid and hot so when Alice told us it was time for lunch we were very excited. She took us to a great restaurant that overlooked the river and part of Bangkok. The menu was preset but we enjoyed all the offerings and really liked being able to cool down for a little while. After lunch we took a ride in a longtail boat around Bangkok. It was definitely an interesting ride as our captain bumped into the side walls of one of the bridges, we had vendors trying to sell us goods, and we saw many large monitor lizards swimming and lounging. The boat ride was a little bit stressful but it was still a cool way to see Bangkok and it was the only way to make it to our last temple, Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn). We were pretty worn out so we didn't spend to much time here but we did snap a few shots and even climbed up the temple to take in the view. We headed back to the hotel and let the girls swim after our long tour day and then we grabbed dinner at the top of the hotel. Bangkok was interesting and we're all glad that we were able to see some of the sites but it probably won't be our top fave city on this trip. Next up we travel to Chiang Mai.
Much Love,
Moises & Jennifer
No comments:
Post a Comment