Bangkok 3rd July to 9th July

It had been quite frustrating that I hadn't done very much the previous week, so I set about seeing as much of the city as I could over the next few days. I started off with visiting Wat Pho, a very large Buddhist temple complex situated on Rattanakosin Island. Its a hugely impressive place, and occupies very high status as regards royal temples. As a whole, it has the highest numbers of Buddha images in the whole country, and it houses a huge 46 metre long and 15 metres high reclining Buddha in one of the temples. The name 'Wat Pho' derives from Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya in India, where the Buddha is said to have achieved enlightenment. The entire site dates from the 1700s, and it covers an area of about 80,000 square metres. The architecture of the whole place is so intricate, its one of those places that is quite overwhelming in its grandeur, and I intended to make a return visit, but ran out of time.

Wat Pho (the temple of the reclining Buddha) is an incredible place to visit, with the Buddha image being totally serene, quite a captivating and immersive experience. Built in 1832, it depicts the passing of the Buddha into final Nirvana after death. The soles of the feet illustrate, in mother-of-pearl, the 108 auspicious characteristics of the Buddha.

Reclining Buddha

The soles of the Buddha's feet

The Phra Maha Chedi Si Rajakarn are an amazing set of four ornately styled pagodas, each of which represents a Thai monarch, from Rama I to Rama IV.

Phra Maha Chedi Si Rajakarn

The Phra Asada Maha Chedi (there are eight of them) are dedicated to different Buddhist concepts, such as the Buddha's teachings, the community of monks, the Buddha in his former lives and the future Buddha.

Phra Asada Maha Chedi

The Phra Sri Ratana Chedi is covered in gold mirrored tiles and is said to contain relics of the Buddha. It reflects the monumental grandeur of the former capital, Ayuthaya, that I visted a few days later.

Phra Sri Ratana Chedi

The Phra Mondop is an extraordinarily beautiful spired library housing sacred Buddhist scriptures written on palm leaves. At its four corners are stone Buddhas carved in the Javanese style, and the tiered roof is a real wonder.

Phra Mondop

Phra Mondop - Javanese style Buddha

The Hor Phra Monthein Dharma is an exquisite Buddhist library containing ancient scriptures, and has incredibly intricate mother-of-pearl inlay work on its doors.

Hor Phra Monthien Dharma

Roof Detail - Hor Phra Monthien Dharma

Phra Viharn Yod has a lovely porcelain floral design with a spire that is shaped like the Thai crown. It also has amazing mother-of-pearl doors.

Phra Viharn Yod

Phra Viharn Yod - Mother-of-Pearl Doors

Hor Phra Nak has an intriguing roof structure, and is a mausoleum that contains the ashes of princes and other members of the royal family.

Hor Phra Nak

The Royal Chapel of the Emerald Buddha contains Thailand's most revered Buddha image, which is actually made of jade. The building is extremely, and its a pity that visitors are not permitted to take photographs inside the building.

Its very hard to do justice to the whole temple complex, which is a kaleidoscope of colour and ornate style, beautifully maintained throughout. These photos just present small snippets of a wonderful place.

I also visited the Royal Barges National Museum, which was located at a converted dry dock. There are eight royal barges on display that are ornately carved and decorated in vivid colours, and which made me wonder how resplendent they would have appeared passing through the rivers. One of the facts about Thai religious and social culture that surprised me during my stay in Bangkok was the extent to which it had been influenced by Indian culture, and this was evident in different ways. Some of the royal barges, for example, featured carved images of Garuda, a legendary bird-like figure that generally appears as the mount of the Hindu god Vishnu, on the prow of the boats.

Barge with throne

Barge throne

Barge with Garuda at the prow

Close up of Garuda

Multi-headed sepent on Prow of the Barge

I also visited the Royal Palaces, which are closely located near to Wat Pho. The range of buildings there is extraordinary, and it was a real delight to see them shimmering under the hot sun.

Phra Buddha Chinnazri at Wat Pho

Phra Buddha Theva Patimakorn

Phra Buddha Theva Patimakorn is located in the ordination hall (ubot), a sacred space for performing rituals, such as ordaining new monks.

During the rest of the week, I stumbled upon a fantastic vegetarian restaurant, May Kaidee, in the Koh San road area, a real backpacker haunt, and to my delight they ran vegetarian cookery classes, which I did the following day. This meant cooking about four or five dishes, including my favourite, 'Pad Thai', which had become a staple dish during most of the time in Bangkok, a noodle dish with vegetables, peanuts and a sprinkling of fresh lime juice. The class was brilliant, it really made me appreciate just how quick the cooking process is in Thai food, its all done in less than five minutes using fresh ingredients, with the preparation of chopped vegetables taking a fair bit of time.  Some of the ingredients, like galangal and Thai basil, might be a bit hard to obtain in the UK, although hopefully an East Asian / Chinese supermarket may come to the rescue!

The National Museum housed some incredible statuary from 9th to 12th century, largely depicting deities from the Hindu tradition. These statues were given prominent place in the main gallery, and were the most interesting aspect of the museum for the remarkable quality of the stonework.

Brahma 11th - 12th century

Brahma 9th - 10th century

Buddha image under naga 12th - 13th century

Four-armed Ganesha 10th century

Vishnu 9th - 10th century

I also visited the Wat Traimit Golden Buddha, which is the single most economically valuable religious artefact in the world. It is an image of the Buddha made of solid gold that was cast sometime in the 13th or 14th century, and weighs 5,500 kilograms. It used to be housed in the former capital Ayuthaya, and was covered in plaster to hide its true identity from the invading Burmese. And so it remained hidden for all those centuries until in 1954 it was being moved, a rope slipped and it collided with the ground, so that the plaster was chipped, revealing the secret beneath. It really is a beautiful item, and reflects well the Sukhothai artistic tradition, which is regarded as the highest point of traditional Thai art. It is hugely revered in Thailand.

I also visited the Jim Thompson house, the home of an American entrepreneur who did much to promote Thai textiles on the international stage, and who disappeared mysteriously in the 1960s. The house contains some phenomenal examples of ancient sculpture, which unfortunately we were not allowed to photograph.