We visited two wats, or temples- Wat Po and Wat Phra Kaew. The wats that we visited were comprised of not just one building each, but confusing labyrinths of them.
We checked out Wat Po first, the home of the reclining buddha. The reclining buddha is a golden statue of a buddha in a peaceful reclining pose, as the name suggests. There is one thing that we realized when we saw it that wasn't implied by the name: the statue is immense. I would say that I am about the size of one of its eyes.
There were other fun surprises too. It's nearly impossible to tell from the pictures, but the buddha's hair protrudes in ornate, drill-like spikes. Also, the feet are graced with designs of shimmering, pale gray mother-of-pearl.
After we left, we headed to the renowned Wat Phra Kaew (I have no idea how to pronounce that). It used to be the grounds of the royal family, its intricate buildings once acting as a palace, a church, and evidently much more. But the road there was fraught with peril. Luckily, the concierge at the hotel had warned us about the danger that awaited us. We were ambushed three times by people trying to sell tours of Bangkok to us. They did this by telling us that the palace grounds didn't open until noon- this was wrong, because they had been open since 8:30- so we might as well take a tour as an alternative, to pass the time. Luckily, we made it through in the end.
When we finally did arrive, we were amazed at what we saw. On the fancier architecture, almost every surface was adorned with kite-shaped gems and flowing, carved gold. There were gems of emerald green, watery turquoise, royal blue, and velvet red.
This area was also the home of the emerald buddha. When I heard about that, I was hoping for a glittering, jewel buddha statue, or one adorned with green emeralds. What I saw was a mostly golden statue with only its face being green. Even then, it looked more like a dull jade- we later read that it actually is jade. However, the mountain of gold that it sat upon was quite impressive, adorned with immaculately positioned buddha statues.
I was pretty burned out from all the sightseeing by then, so we started the trek home.
The rest of the day was fairly laid back- we relaxed in our hotel room and visited the mall, then had dinner.
BONUS PHOTO!:
Aidan, sawadeeka...I was in Thailand in 2012 and visited some of the same places in Bangkok. Thanks to your pictures, I can relive that experience. I'll have to share my Wat pictures with you when you return. Happy Travels!
ReplyDelete