Bangkok, day 2 – temples
On the second day in Bangkok, the plan was to see Wat Arun, Wat Pho and the Grand Palace.
(Wat=Temple)
Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn/Templul Rasaritului)
I thought I will see yet another temple, but Wat Arun is slightly different than any other that I’ve seen so far. The central tower is built in Khmer style and has pieces of colorful porcelain encrusted on its surface. It has very steep stairs and there are statues of monkeys and demons all around it.
To get to Wat Arun, we took the sky-train to Saphan Taksin (the Central pier) and from there the express boat to Tha Thien pier (40 Bahts/person), from where we took a ferry to cross Chao Phraya River (3 Baht/person).
Wat Arun seen from the express boat on the Chao Phraya river in Bangkok/ templul wat Arun vazut de pe raul Chao Phraya din Bangkok
The entrance at Wat Arun Temple/intrarea in templul Arun
Guardian at Wat Arun
Beautiful columns at Wat Arun Temple in Bangkok
Wat Arun gardens, in Bangkok
Thailand’s king photo is all over the country./Poza regelui Tailandei este peste tot
Sculptures at Wat Arun Temple in Bangkok./Statui
buddha statues at wat arun./Multe statui ale lui Buddha
inside Wat Arun
some people posing in Thai costumes./oameni pozand in costume tailandeze
Insite Wat Arun./In interiorul templului Arun
an Asian lady wanted to have a photo with me/o doamna asiatica a vrut sa faca o poza cu mine
Attention, if you are a foreigner and you don’t pay the 50 Baht ticket, this fierce Police Dog will bark, and bark…and bark…/Daca nu cumperi bilet, acest “fioros” caine politist va latra necontenit
Sculptures on the central tower at Wat Arun/sculpturi pe turnul central in Templul Arun
Stone sculptures in Wat Arun complex
Monk vacuuming in the temple./calugar dand cu aspiratorul
Beautiful flowers at Wat Arun/Flori proaspete in templul Arun
children
Porcelain on Wat Arun central tower/portelan pe turnul central din templul Arun
A fat Buddha./ Un Buddha cam grasut
columns at Wat Arun./Coloane la templul Arun
Wat Arun Complex
Statue at Wat Arun
Me at Wat Arun
Garden at Wat Arun in Bangkok./Gradina templului Arun
Tower at Wat Arun
Steep Stairs at Wat Arun./Scari abrupte
Wat Arun Complex viewed from the central temple./Complexul Templului Arun, vedere din turnul central
Wat Pho (The Temple of the Reclining Buddha/Templul lui Buddha culcat)
Wat Pho is one of the largest and oldest temples in Bangkok and it hosts over 1000 images of Buddha and also the biggest Buddha statue in Thailand – a 43 m long Reclining Buddha (his position before entering Nirvana -the ultimate state of peace and happiness).
Around the temple there are 16 gates guarded by Chinese rock giants. Inside the courtyard there are many beautiful chedis containing the ashes of Buddha.
The reclining Buddha in Wat Pho, Bangkok./ Buddha culcat in templul Pho din Bangkok. Statuie de 43 metri lungime
Wat Pho/Templul Pho
Chedis (Stupas) at Wat Pho
Chinese guard at one of the entrances at Wat Pho/Statuie de paza la una din intrarile in templul Pho
Reclining Buddha with his giant feet./Buddha culcat si picioarele sale uriase
one of the many chedis at Wat Pho
Detail
many Buddha statues
Rules./”Ingenuncheati pe podea pentru a arata respect statuii lui Buddha”
Wat Pho
Another Buddha statue at Wat Pho./O alta statuie a lui Buddha in templul Pho din Bangkok
Bell at Wat Pho
Shall we see Grand Palace?
At least this was the plan, but at the first gate the guard told us the site is closed until 2PM.
At the next gate few hundred meters further, a friendly man with guard badge and very official looking approached us and said the temple is closed for a few hours, but in the mean time we should take a tuk-tuk to see 3 other places around Bangkok and that we should not pay more than 40 Baht. He sounded very plausible so we fell for it.
Apparently, this is one of the biggest scams at Grand Place, in Bangkok, but I had no clue about it!!! They want to take you to different tailor shops to buy clothes and they get commission for it (they get much more if the clients that they bring in order suits or dresses).
Only in the tuk-tuk I realized something is not right and the scam was confirmed when one of the sites we “visited” was a tailor shop and the driver asked us to go in and have a look. Of course we did not buy any suit or dress, so we went to the third site, The Golden Mount, where our tuk-tuk driver abandoned us (we didn’t even pay him before he left). Luckily it wasn’t far from Grand Palace, so we walked, having the chance to see more parts of Bangkok.
On the streets of Bangkok./Pe strazile din Bangkok
Bus on the streets of Bangkok./Autobuz in Bangkok
Barbed wire due to the protests in Bangkok./Sarma ghimpata datorita protestelor din Bangkok
Pink elephants statues next to Grand Palace./Elefanti roz langa palat
So, the Grand Palace is NOT closed during day for monks to pray, nor for god know what ceremony! Don’t believe anything anyone is telling you! If you have to ask for direction or information, is better to ask another tourist.
At the Grand Palace it was very crowded, lots of Asians and noisy tourists. The first thing you see is that you have to wear long pants and cover your shoulders (but they lend you clothes to cover yourself if necessary). The entrance is 500 Baht.
Considering all that happened before (the scam) and the ridiculous price and rules to see just another temple, we decided that Grand Palace is not worth the visit.
Outfit rules at Grand Palace in Bangkok./Restrictii vestimentare la palatul din Bangkok. Obligatoriu pantaloni lungi!
Grand Palace viewed from outside
And 3 more photos taken from the boat:
Buddhist monk on the boat./Calugar budist in barca pe raul Chao Phraya din Bangkok
View of Bangkok from Chao Phraya river./Bangkok vazut din barca de pe raul Chao Phraya
Bangkok- view from the boat/vedere din barca
wow the way you take the pictures is interesting
really nice set of pictures
Wonderful post! great photo’s; thanks for sharing.
Fab post! love the pictures of Temples, having visited Bangkok myself in November I know what you meant about the Tuk Tuks.Love your blog!
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Superbe poze, Corina! Am omis inentionat Wat Arun si Wat Pho in martie, ca sa am ce vedea si data viitoare. Pana atunci, imi cumpar si o camera 😀
Haha, pai ce sa zic, calatorie placuta data viitoare si have fun taking photos! Eu am incercat sa vad cat mai mult in timpul pe care l-am avut, pentru ca nu mi-e usor sa ajung din nou acolo..de fapt nu cred ca voi mai ajunge acolo vreodata 😀
Ma bucur ca ti-au placut pozele mele 🙂
Multumesc mult! Eu abia am inceput cu calatoriile – desi am fost in trecut in Filipine de cateva ori, pentru antrenament. Iar partea aia din Asia e zona mea de interes maxim – din Nepal pana in Indonesia 🙂 Toate cele bune si spor la calatorit in continuare!