Last year I made a short trip to Thailand, at that time the political condition of the country still went well so nothing to worry about. Because the trip only about three days, so it was too short to visit other city like Phuket or Pattaya, so I decided to explore Bangkok only.
Seeing Bangkok was like seeing Jakarta, but the traffic and transportation was better in Bangkok. I stayed in a backpacker hostel named Lub D, which was the cheapest hostel in the most strategic place in the heart of Bangkok. It is located across the National Stadium, and really close to some famous malls in Bangkok, like Siam Discovery, Siam Center and Siam Paragon.
My first expedition in Bangkok was temples hopping. From Wat Arun to Wat Pho. I didn't visit Grand Palace temple because when I read some reviews, the temples not much different from the two temples, and the entrance price was more expensive.
In order to get to the Wat Arun, I took MRT from National Stadium station to Wongwian Yai station, from there, I looked for taxi, and it only cost me 100 bath to the entrance of Wat Arun temple. The taxi using meter so I didn't worry at all.
The entrance fee for Wat Arun was 50 bath. The temple was so tall and colorful. Once I entered the temple, I heard a tourist shouted to his kids "ayo foto di sini!", wow, I suddenly felt like I was in Borobudur or Prambanan temple, because even though I was in Thailand, but I still met Indonesian people. Okay -__-.
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| Wat Arun at first sight |
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| Wat Arun entrance ticket |
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| first floor |
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| a detail on the wall |
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| such a colorful temple |
Near the main temple, there are some statue like golden statue (I don't think this one is Buddha) and cat statue too.
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| golden statue |
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| the cat statue |
After finished exploring the ground level, me and my traveling partner continue climbing the stairs to of the main temple. I couldn't stop holding the hand rail because the stair was so long and steep. But after reaching the top of the temple, I could see the view of Chao Phraya river and saw how its mingle with its surrounding.
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| struggling with the stairs |
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| Chao Praya River view from Wat Arun top floor |
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| other view from the top |
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| climbing down the temple |
Done with the temple, I climb down the temple. When I walked around the temple, I saw some people took photo in the Thailand traditional costume. When I looked closer, there was a clothing rental near there, who offered the visitors to take a photo with the traditional costumes. I guess they often get Indonesian tourists as the buyer, because when he knew me and my traveling partner came from Indonesia, he suddenly speak Indonesia, though it was not fluent, like "pilih yang mana bajunya.." which means "which clothes do you want..". After a quick changed, then me and my traveling partner took our turn to photo in Thailand traditional costumes ^.^
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| photo with traditional costumes |
After finished with photo session, we continued exploring Wat Arun by take a looked at King Monument and a three-tiered roofing gate.
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| the King Monument |
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| the three-tiered roofing gate |
Then we took a boat to cross the river to Wat Pho temple. The boat was so cheap, only took us 3 bath/person. Wat Pho was located exactly across the river from Wat Arun. So the fastest way to get there was only by boat.
When I got closer to Wat Pho, I was confused which way should I chose to the entrance gate. Then suddenly I heard a Tour Guide in Indonesian said, "semuanya, lewat sini!" or "everybody, this way!" then I just followed the group and voila! I found the entrance gate. Yes, Indonesian tourist are everywhere.
The entrance price to Wat Pho was 100 bath. The nice thing was, by paying 100 bath, I could exchange a free coupon with a bottle of mineral water. The temperature was hot, so free drinking water was such a nice gift away. To get into the room with the giant sleeping Buddha, I had to take off my shoes and put it in a bag, and brought the bag wherever I go. When I leaving the building, I could take out my shoes from the bag and return the bag to a basket to be used by other visitors.
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| Wat Pho entrance ticket |
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| the sleeping Buddha |
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| yes, it was this huge |
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| even his feet are this big |
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| sleeping Buddha miniature |
The Sleeping Buddha was literally huge, and golden. It was really hard to take a picture of it because the room was not so big and the visitors was crowded, so you should queue just to take a photo of the Buddha's head. In the room, there were many signs mentioned "beware of pickpocket", which made me curious if there was many pickpocket activities happened there.
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| beware of pickpocket gangs |
In Wat Pho, the interesting part was not only the sleeping Buddha, but also some temples around it. I could not stop myself from taking picture because the place was beautiful.
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| the temples are so colorful |
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| I don't know the meaning of the statue's hand gestures |
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| why this statue was colored differently? |
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| I love its luxury ornaments |
When I entered to the praying room, it was felt so sacred, because the place was so beautiful and many prayer looked so focus with their pray.
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| the golden Buddha |
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| the praying room looks so beautiful |
Done with Wat Pho, I returend to National Stadium by taking a boat from a port near Wat Pho, and stopped near Saphan Taksin station, and then continued our journey by MRT from Saphan Taksin station to National Stadium station.
XOXO,
The Tourist
