Monks, touts and golden Buddhas

After getting some good sleep, we met our tour guide at the lobby around 10am and crossed the city to the old part of town. Our first stop was at Wat Traimit, the temple of the gold Buddha. Inside it there is a 5.5 ton statue of Buddha in solid gold. While a lot of Thai temples and statues are covered in gold leaf, this is the real thing. Outside, there are machines with little Buddha statues (one for each day of the week) in which you can insert a coin and get your fortune. Steve and I got a pretty good one, but not all of them are so uplifting. Before getting on the van to go to the next temple, we saw the young monks eating their meals.

Next we stopped at Wat Pho. This temple has a few statues outside, depicting guards and demons. It must be a pretty popular place since there were a lot of touts trying to get us to buy their stuff. It’s all pretty cheap, but still a rip-off compared to the prices you can find at the markets. Inside the temple there is a giant statue of a reclining Buddha. It’s very hard to take it all in without walking around the statue. The walls and ceilings are all finely decorated and the Buddha’s feet are incrusted with mother-of-pearl. Inside the temple there is also a long row of pots where you can drop pennies, giving the whole experience a funny background sound.

We went for a boat tour and had lunch before we saw one last temple. This one was called Wat Benchamabophit, or the Marble Temple. It’s not as impressive as the other two, but it’s quieter and nicer that way. If you’re looking for a place where you can actually meditate, this would be it. Outside, in the marble courtyard, there is a big collection of Buddha statues in bronze, covering different themes, periods and locations. Very interesting. I really wish we had had the time to see more temples. Bangkok has so many of them, and they’re all beautiful and unique in their own way. They’re a definitely a recommended sight, whether you are religious, an art lover or a history buff.