2017-11 Grand Palace (Bangkok, Thailand)

My first attempt at the Grand Palace didn't end up materializing. It was the royal ceremony of the changing of the Emerald Buddha's costume from the rainy to winter season. In Thailand, there are three seasons: hot, rainy and winter. November 4th just happened to be the day of the robe change.

Grand Palace

My second attempt was more successful, participating in the Urban Adventures Temple and River Kings tour. The benefit of the tour is that our guide left us to take photos within the welcoming area of the Grand Palace while he went off to purchase our entrance tickets. He also got us through shorter lines for entrance as well as providing background on the different monuments.

Exterior of the Emerald Buddha temple

Fortunately, we were now able to see the Emerald Buddha, even if we couldn't take photos of it. It is a petite 26 inches tall; and, it's actually made of jade. We had to leave our shoes outside of this temple to enter.

In fact, the Grand Palace has the strictest dress code of all. No shorts allowed. For the one guy who had shown up to the tour in shorts, our guide, quickly pointed him to 100 baht "elephant pants". For women, long pants or a long skirt is required. It needs to cover one's ankles. Shoulders must be covered for both men and women.

A giant demon gaurdian

Yet, you don't want to miss a chance to visit this complex. It is extensive! Even walking to get to the entrance was over a kilometer plus what seemed like another 1/2 kilometer to get to the ticket booth. Once inside, we saw the gigantic "giants" that had been mentioned in Wat Pho. These are demon guardians.

Golden stuppa

We also saw a giant stuppa covered in gold leaf. This was built by King Rama V; and, he had the gold leaf imported from Italy. Another iconic piece is a model replica of Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat was part of the kingdom of Siam from the 15th-19th centuries.

Model of Angkor Wat

Quick notes:
- dress appropriately: shoulders covered, no shorts, women need to cover their ankles
- 500 baht entrance fee
- have a back-up day in case your first choice is closed for a ceremony

2017-11 Wat Pho (Bangkok, Thailand)

A "wat" in Thailand is Buddhist monastery or temple. Wat Pho was the first "wat" that I visited in Thailand. It's located not far from the Grand Palace in Rattanakosin Island in Bangkok.

Giant reclining Buddha

The main feature of this temple is a reclining Buddha. It is gigantic! Housed within it's own temple, the Buddha stretches 46 meter (150 ft) long and 15 meter (50 ft) tall. The Buddha was built by Rama III in 1832. It was built out of bricks and then entirely gilded in gold. Even just entering the building and seeing the Buddha's head high above is impressive. The interior walls of the temple housing the reclining Buddha are covered in intricate mural paintings with gold leaf detailing.

Mural paintings inside the temple

 We removed our shoes and carried them in a red plastic bag provided by the temple. Entering on the right side, we first saw the Buddha's face high above us. We shuffled through on bare or stockinged feet, stopping to try to get good photos between the pillars holding up the temple ceiling. The entire time, we could hear dinging, like the sound of coins being thrown into something metal.

Metal bowls for donations along left outer wall

Then, we were shuffling past the Buddha's feet, ornately decorated on the soles in mother of pearl. Outside, we attempted to take full-length photos of the Buddha through the screen's over the windows. Then, we were shuffling past the back of the Buddha. Now, we could see where the pinging noise had came from: we could pay 20 baht for a container of coins to put into metal donation bowls along the outer wall of the temple. 

Traditional medical school

While the reclining Buddha is the main attraction at Wat Pho, it also houses the first public university within Thailand. According to Wikipedia, the traditional medical portion of the school wasn't started until 1955. We looked at the diagrams drawn on the walls for the students' learning. Even today, the traditional Thai massage continues within Wat Pho.

Stuppa for one of the King Rama's ashes

In addition, there are several temples with Buddhas, stuppas for kings' ashes and galleries full of Buddhas, both sitting and standing. A person can pay to be buried under one of the Buddhas in the galleries. Overall, the complex is immense. I visited it three times; and, each time, I saw something and learned something new.

Chinese Confucious scholar sculpture. We were told that it was brought over simply because the ships needed more ballast

Quick notes:

- admission for non-Thais is 100 Baht. Exact change ONLY

- open 8-6:30

- wear shoes that you can slip off to enter the many temples

- if you are not dressed appropriately, you will be provided with an appropriate covering