Up early for our temple tour. Our van was only ten minutes late and we were amazed at how much lighter the traffic was until about ten. After that, it quickly built to the huge levels we experienced yesterday. Meanwhile, we had an even better guide today on our visits to three very famous temples here in Bangkok. The first was the Temple of the Golden Buddha, Wat Traimit. Visitors must remove their shoes and hats, and be careful never to point the soles of their feet at the Buddha, but they may take all the photos they want, which, of course, makes us very happy. The Golden Buddha is larger than life-size and made of solid gold, all donated over seven hundred years ago by the Thai people, who gave their jewelry to be melted down for this statue. It weighs 5,500 kg, and is solid gold, not hollow. The temple complex is ornate and beautiful as well.
The second temple on the tour was Wat Pho, the Temple of the Reclining Buddha. It is the oldest temple in the city and boasts 99 pagodas within its boundaries. The Buddha is 46 m. long and 15 m. high. It is made of gold plated bronze and the soles of the buddha's feet consist of scenes made of mother of pearl. We kept hearing metal coins clinking as we walked around it, and eventually realized one wall of the gallery is lined with metal pots into which the devout drop coin after coin. The other walls of the gallery contain Thai style landscape murals telling the life story and spiritual journey of the Buddha. Outside, there were other buildings, including one that was an International temple, welcoming people of all nationalities, and one devoted to the study of Thai massage which was illustrated with hundreds of diagrams of pressure points.
Our third stop was at the Marble Temple. This one is only about 150 years old and built of Italian Carara marble. It is supposed to be the most beautiful of the temples, and it is certainly a little more to the modern taste with cleaner lines and far less exuberantly ornate decoration. Personally, I think all of these temples are absolutely gorgeous! The Marble Temple was built by Chulalongkorn and houses his ashes. There was a ceremony going on when we were there, so we were not allowed to photograph the Buddha, but nearby was a gallery featuring many other Buddha statues in three of the four typical positions--sitting, standing, and walking. The fourth is reclining, which is not so often seen. There are also five hand positions used for Buddha statues used to represent meditation, peace, blessing, teaching, and charity. This temple complex features an international temple surrounded by flags of all nations where everyone is free to worship. In this one we were encouraged to sit down and were given a short explanation of some typical religious practices.
By this time, it was about 10:30 and we thought the tour was over. John wanted to take a boat on the Chao Phraya river, and I wanted to go back to the hotel, so he left the tour to go off on his own, and after a surprise shopping stop where we could buy Thai rubies, sapphires, and diamonds (or not!), I was put on a different van and returned to our hotel. Since I was the only passenger, it took only about 40 minutes to get there. I arrived in time for another shower before lunch on my own in the hotel cafe. John finally came back at about five, after a busy day trying to get to the river and a couple of hotels he wanted to visit. Taxis to the river, boats between hotels, and two sky trains home, all in the increasing heat and humidity of Bangkok in late April. He had a terrific time and so did I sitting at "home" in air conditioned comfort after seeing all I really wanted to see. I wouldn't have missed this trip for anything, but as always, I'm looking forward to arriving home in a couple of days. If I had a working wand, I would "magic" myself there and bypass the long plane ride. Alas, that dream is not to be.
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