Wat Arun, Bangkok

Day 3

Day three was a weird one.  Just when we thought we were getting our heads around this crazy city, it threw us a curve ball, and we were back to square one, as confused as ever.

Weird curve balls aside, on our third day in the city we found ourselves at Wat Arun, one of the temples I had spotted on our first morning.

Easily accessed from the river (take the express boat to Tha Tien, and change onto the ferry - 3Bhat - to reach the west side), the temple is perhaps a little more run down than its east bank counterparts (it was in the process of being restored whilst we were there), but this is not to say it wasn't worth a visit.

Where The Grand Palace and Wat Pho were predominantly introverted, and interesting because of the beauty within the complex,  Wat Arun (whilst still beautiful inside) was notable in that it  allowed for amazing views over the city.

You climb up about a million stairs (which in the mid day heat is no mean feat! ), but when you arrive at the top, you are so rewarded!!

As a day trip by itself,  there is probably not enough to see here, but it would make an excellent addition to a visit to Wat Pho, and is definitely worth a visit if you ever find yourself in the area!

Much Love,  

Jess

xxxx

Wat Pho, Bangkok

Day 2,

Emboldened by our success on our first day, we decided to spend our second morning in Bangkok visiting Wat Pho (the Temple of the Reclining Buddha).

Less famous, and therefore less busy than The Emerald Buddha, Wat Pho is equally as beautiful as his more popular counterpart.
We arrived at the complex by the same method as the day before (Sky train to Saphan Taksin, and the express boat to Tha Tien - a stop before The Grand Palace). From the pier, it was an easy walk to the Temple,  and just 100Bhat to get in- a significant improvement on the entry cost of the Grand Palace!

Inside, the temple was calm, and quiet, far more what you would expect from a place of religious significance.

We began our explorations heading away from the (busier) main temple, and spent some time wandering between towering chedis, through courtyards lined with golden Buddahs,  and into subsidiary temples, complete with larger than life status of Buddah.

There seemed to be more practicing Buddhists here, than at the Grand Palace (perhaps because it was quieter), which only served to make me like the place even better. It felt so much more authentic, much less 'Disney'.

The attention to detail here is unbelievable

As before, the complex is deceptively large, and just when you think you've seen everything, you stumble across another temple (in our case, a temple containing several Chinese style Buddha's,  and a dilapidated chedi,  whose charm was only added too by its air of disrepair).

Having finally made our way round the rest of the complex (we think..), we joined the crowds heading towards the Reclining Buddha.

He was a sight to behold! Where the Emerald Buddha was so highly revered,  and tiny, this Buddah was enormous! Not a sight I am likely to forget any time soon!! (And on the off chance I do, you are allowed to take photos here - once the hoards of tourists snapping selfies on their iPads cleared, the statue made for quite a remarkable subject).

Mother of Pearl feet | A golden pillow

Having seen as much as we could at Wat Pho, and with the storm clouds rolling in, we decided to take shelter in one of Bangkoks many malls. But thats a story for another day I think.

Much Love, 

Jess

xxxx

The Grand Palace, Bangkok

Day 1

Confused and jetlagged,  but determined to make the most of our short time in Bangkok,  we headed off in search of one of the most popular tourist destinations in the city; the Grand Palace, and Temple of The Golden Buddah (500 bhat per ticket).

The Palace was pretty simple to get too; take the sky train to Saphan Taksin, and from there transfer onto the express boat to Tha Chang. (The boat is my favourite way to travel so far, the city seems calmer from the river, and the light breeze feels amazing!)

Scenes from the river

From the pier its a five minute walk to the palace -just follow the crowds- easy peasy lemon squeezy. (Nb, take care walking through the market that has sprung up around the pier, I have read about a number of scams operating in that area).

The Palace itself is fairly unremarkable, it houses a couple of small museums, and actually still contains several working royal offices.

Far more interesting was The Royal Monastery of The Emerald Buddha. The architecture of the monastry was beautiful; so many colours, vibrant against the overcast sky. It was architecture like this that first drew me to Thailand,  so it was amazing to experience it in the flesh.

Inside the temple complex

I also enjoyed the miniature angkor wat (built during the reign of King Rama IV), and the golden chedi,  inside which is believed to be held a peice of the Buddha's chest bone.

 The golden chedi | A miniature Angkor Wat

In terms of tips for visiting the complex, they will lend you clothes to cover up if you come inappropriately dressed (shoulders and knees should be covered), but obviously its easier and more respectful to bring your own. Also, and this sounds super obvious,  try and avoid the middle of the day, theres a lot to see here, and we found we rushed the final parts in an effort to get out of the heat (lets blame that foolishness on the jetlag shall we.. )

All in all, a reasonably successful first day out.

Much Love,

Jess

xxxx