And so, the Thailand posts continue …
One of the first posts on this blog was of a day in late 2007 where I was taken around three of the most popular temples in Bangkok. Flash forward to late 2015 and although I’d been once before, I felt that I’d only have regrets if I didn’t take the opportunity to spend a day seeing them again. It’s funny what time does to memories and I really wanted to savour the moment this time around.
As with the previous days trip to Damoen Saduak, I booked with Isango who offered a well priced trip (including pick up and drop off at my hotel) which would cover everything I wanted.
Wat Traimit (Temple of the Golden Buddha)
This was stop one and in this instance was the one I was most interested in. Back in 2007 the Golden Buddha (official title Phra Phuttha Maha Suwan Patimakon) was kept in a much smaller building (see pics here). Since then it’s been moved into a much larger building which is far more fitting. It was weird in a sense as aside from the Buddha itself, I didn’t recognise the site at at all! The Golden Buddha is made of solid gold and weighs 5 1/2 tonnes. Awesome!
Wat Pho (Temple of the Reclining Buddha)
Stop two and this one I remembered well. This is one of Bangkok’s oldest temples and the Reclining Buddha within is huge (15 metres high and 46 metres long). It’s a big site and in 2007 we only saw some of it. This time, although I didn’t visit Phra Ubosot (the ordination hall) I did get to look around the exterior of Phra Mondob (the scripture hall) which I found fascinating.
Wat Benchamabophit (The Marble Temple)
Final stop, at the beautiful Marble Temple. Construction began here in 1899 using marble from Italy. Not a lot to say other than it’s a stunning building.
Following are rather a lot of snapshots (apologies) …
