A Quick Templing in Bangkok

by Katherine

          Being that we literally had a half day to explore Bangkok, I knew we weren't going to be able to see too many things. I so desperately wanted to go to this market with a bunch of good street food and full of locals, but it was just too damn hot to make it there, especially since the timing would have cut it close to its end time.

          I did research to try to figure out the "must do" temples. It seemed that Wat Pho was the one temple that you just can't miss while in Bangkok. And my Thai friend from college also said it was tops. It is known for its GIANT statue of a reclining Buddha. 

          On our walk to Wat Pho, we passed the Grand Palace, another suggested temple. But it was closed by the time we even reached it. Sadly, we couldn't even really see it because of its rather tall surrounding wall.

          Wat Pho was indeed impressive. The Buddha is sooo long! You can barely get a picture with the whole thing in it! One super cool thing about Wat Pho was that they gave you robes if you are not dressed appropriately (cover your knees and shoulders!). So you don't have to fear being dismissed. The Buddha is in one building of the temple complex; it was crowded but people moved pretty quickly through, and the Buddha is set back a little bit so you can take pictures without strangers in them.The rest of the temple was cool to walk around as well - unique architecture, cool statues, and bold colors!

           We wandered a little further and glimpsed Wat Arun. It was full of scaffolding and was barely worth the view. Add to that the crazy heat, I definitely don't regret not going across the water to see it up close.  ​I've read that it's best to see lit up at night as it towers over the water. 

Wat Arun