Wat Pho Bangkok Thailand Day 3

February 2015 - Bangkok Thailand

This is a more detailed description of Wat Pho, click here for highlights of our day.
Thanks to Wikipedia for the background information.

Oh my Buddha, as our tour director, Phiem was fond of saying!!

Wat Pho is named after a monastery in India where Buddha is believed to have lived. Prior to the temple's founding, the site was a centre of education for traditional Thai medicine, and statues were created showing yoga positions.

Our first views as we wait for our tickets.

The temple has sixteen gates around the complex guarded by Chinese giants carved out of rocks. These statues were originally imported as ballast on ship trading with China.

 Wat Pho is one of the largest and oldest wats in Bangkok (with an area of 50 rai, 80,000 square metres), and is home to more than one thousand Buddha images, as well as one of the largest single Buddha images of 160 ft length the Reclining Buddha (Phra Buddhasaiyas, Thai พระพุทธไสยาสน์).

The Reclining Buddha is 15 m high and 43 m long with his right arm supporting the head with tight curls on two box-pillows of blue, richly encrusted with glass mosaics. The 3 m high and 4.5 m long foot of Buddha displays are inlaid with mother-of-pearl. They are divided into 108 arranged panels, displaying the auspicious symbols by which Buddha can be identified like flowers, dancers, white elephants, tigers and altar accessories. Over the statue is a seven tiered umbrella representing the authority of Thailand.

There are 108 bronze bowls in the corridor indicating the 108 auspicious characters of Buddha. People drop coins in these bowls as it is believed to bring good fortune, and to help the monks maintain the wat.

Dropping the small pennies in makes a nice ringing sound and even if your wishes don’t come true, the money goes towards helping the monks renovate and preserve Wat Pho.

The northern walled compound is where the reclining Buddha and massage school are found. The southern walled compound, Tukgawee, is a working Buddhist monastery with monks in residence and a school. Outside the temple, the grounds contain 91 chedis (stupas or mounds), four viharas (halls) and a bot (central shrine). 71 chedis of smaller size contains the ashes of the royal family, and 21 large ones contain the ashes of Buddha.The four chedis are dedicated to the four Chakri kings.

Although the intricately detailed murals that cover the walkways around Wat Pho will require a book or guide to decipher, the exquisite murals are so detailed and intricate that even if you don’t understand all the imagery you can still appreciate the artwork.

Other sights include four chapels that contain 394 gilded Buddha images, long lines of golden statues from different parts of Thailand sitting in the lotus position.

The southern walled compound, Tukgawee, is a working Buddhist monastery with monks in residence and a school. There are many monks strolling around.

Bangkok Day 3

Bangkok Thailand - February 2015
Day 1

Day 2

Today is the first day of any official Avalon tours, the company running the river cruise. Our tour guide, Guide Bank (yes), spends some anxious moments attempting to explain that he was supposed to pick us up on Thursday but had the flight number 515 which was cancelled. We explained that we had told our agent that the flight number was changed to 519 back in November and had been told by email that she had changed it with the company in Bangkok. We'll see but we want compensation for paying for our own transportation, never happened.

We meet three other couples that will be with us. Seems the rest of the passengers are starting in Cambodia.
Bangkok was an add on that only a few chose.
The couples are:
Quebec
BC
Texas.

After another luxurious breakfast, we were planning to skip lunch as the tour was advertised as morning. I have used the tour outline (in italics) as my basis below, changing the order as required.

 February 7 Bangkok

Photos are straight from our cameras, not enough time to photoshop!

First stop the TEMPLE OF THE RECLINING BUDDHA, the oldest and largest Buddhist temple in Bangkok. It houses more than 1,000 Buddha images, including the 49-foot-high and 151-foot-long massive Reclining Buddha.

Wat (Buddist temple) Pho is known also as the Temple of the Reclining Buddha, its official name is Wat Phra Chettuphon Wimon Mangkhlaram Ratchaworamahawihan (Thai: วัดพระเชตุพนวิมลมังคลารามราชวรมหาวิหาร). The temple is also known as the birthplace of traditional Thai massage.

As you enter.

OK it is our first temple but WOW!!! Can I say they only got better in Bangkok?? I will post lots more of this temple.

 That is gold leaf left as offerings.

Stop at the stunning GRAND PALACE, featuring the TEMPLE OF THE EMERALD BUDDHA.

It is Saturday and this is PACKED with tourists. Proper attire is mandatory the attendants will yank you out of the line and you are provided with free clothes to cover up. You are packed together and the guide warned us that the Chinese and Koreans will be very pushy LOL.

Looks peaceful, deceiving.

The Grand Palace is a complex of buildings at the heart of Bangkok. The palace has been the official residence of the Kings of Siam(and later Thailand) since 1782. The king, his court and his royal government were based on the grounds of the palace until 1925. The present monarch, King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX), currently resides at Chitralada Palace, but the Grand Palace is still used for official events. Several royal ceremonies and state functions are held within the walls of the palace every year. 

A palace guard, on duty, opens the gate for a car.

I later regretted not counting the number of times we removed our shoes on this trip!

There are certain areas you are not allowed to photo, the Emerald Buddha is one, but John got this zoomed photo. The Buddha is clothed according to the season.

Next up is a BOAT RIDE through the klongs, Bangkok’s canals, to see the family homes, temples, and the way of life that give this city the nickname “Venice of the East.”

We walked from the \palace to the river front. One of our of group, an older man with hip and knee replacements had a lot of trouble with the heat. The guide made sure we all had cold water and even got wet towels for him.









Getting into the boats was challenging for most of us. First you step on the tire and then onto the canvas siding, onto a seat if you are short.




Now I just have to worry about getting out.
































A little shopping.

Getting out was quite the challenge, between the bobbing boat and getting splashed. Someone quipped that they hoped our river boat was going to be a little easier to get on and off.

Finally lunch time in a local restaurant, Bank has chosen the menu.






The remainder of the day is at your leisure. (Breakfast, Lunch)


Back to the hotel, and the guide is upselling tours for tomorrow. Two couples opt for Ayutthaya. where we have booked a private tour, and one couple plan to go shopping at the floating market.

We spend the rest of the afternoon at the pool on the 37th floor.

Around 8PM we took a cab to Chinatown, 200 BAHT. Quite the experience, we were a little overwhelmed by the crowds and traffic. 

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Every available space was set up as a restaurant.

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No taxi back for us, we hailed a tuk tuk!