I awoke early, the sunshine poking through the cracks in my grimy hotel door to beckon me outside. I set out, eager to explore the Wats around Bangkok. First I walked to the Grand Palace and Wat Prao Khao (Warning: Most of the names in this blog are probably misspelled, so apologies for my phonetic shortcomings. A lot of places here have multiple spellings anyway). The place is a total tourist trap but for a good reason: it is one of the most spectacular sights I have ever seen and is truly worthy of its World Heritage Site designation. Wat Prao Khao is a palace straight out of a fairytale. It holds the famous emerald Buddha and the remains of royal monarchs. The architecture is truly indescribable. Enormous dragons fiercely guard jagged rooftops with shimmering spires covered in golden tiles. Everything is golden, crimson, sparkling. Every detail, down to a 2-inch square on some random back wall, is painstakingly decorated, jeweled, and painted. The place is literally brimming with cultural and historical significance. I walked around the complex for a few hours, in complete awe of the architecture, the pure splendor of the place. Rather than blather on with my inadequate descriptions, I will post a few pictures and suggest a visit to my flickr page (www.flickr.com/photos/katiewolff) for more photos.
The Grand Palace and Wat Prao Khao
After leaving the Grand Palace and Wat Prao Khao, I decided to head across the river to see Wat Arun. I made my way to the Pier, where I found a chaotic market swarming with other bumbling tourists. I asked how to get to Wat Arun, and the woman at the ferry pier motioned me towards a tourist boat with bright signs written in English. No, no, I explained, I don’t want a tour, I just want to get across. For 1/100th the price I hopped onto the local ferry shuttle, the only white face among a sea of Thais.
A river view of Bangkok
The ferry dropped me off in the middle of a large wet market. Crazy assortments of slimy, slithering, living things in bright plastic tubs lined the sidewalks. In accordance with Buddhist tradition, Thais buy these creatures and "set them free" in order to earn “merit”. Looking over the pier through the oil sheen at the surface to the murky water below, I realized pessimistically that in reality most of these creatures probably suffocate or are poisoned to death following their “release”. But who am I to judge?
Slimy merit makers
At the opposite end of the market I found not Wat Arun, but another smaller Wat refreshingly free of any western tourists. The air rang with a constant clanging as devotees walked through a line of large bells, ringing nine in succession to honor their ancestors. After a bit of wandering and a few Thai iced teas, I soon found myself at Wat Arun: Temple of the Dawn.
Wat Arun
Wat Arun was constructed in the same architectural style that characterizes Angkor Wat and Arryuthia. Immense towers extend skyward, accented by Buddhist statues. A labyrinth of impossibly steep stairways crisscrosses the network of towers. Tourists aren’t allowed to climb up but I felt dizzy just admiring them from the ground level. The most amazing thing is that every inch of this enormous complex is encrusted with shards of broken porcelain, reconfigured to create landscapes and flowered designs. These materials were collected from residents in the capital hundreds of years ago. I thoroughly enjoyed wandering the steep stairways of Wat Arun, several times pausing to enjoy the view of Bangkok from across the river. More than once I turned a sharp corner only to come face to face with a monk, grinning up at me in his glowing orange robes.
Wall detail from Wat Arun (Note the use of porcelain/china saucers)
Feeling invigorated from the dizzying heights at Temple of the Dawn, I took a water ferry back across the Chao Praya to see my final Wat of the day: Wat Pho. I had planned to end the day’s exploration at Wat Pho for the solitary and very good reason that it houses Bangkok’s premier school of massage. For less than $10 you can get an hour massage from the best of the best. Weary and sun-dried from the day’s wanderings, I made an appointment and explored the dilapidated Wat grounds in the 40 minutes I had to wait. Aside from the School of Massage, the most outstanding feature of this Wat is the giant Golden Reclining Buddha. Housed inside one of the ornate Wat buildings, this enormous Buddha (100+feet long!) was truly impressive. The feet are inlaid with mother of pearl designs that simultaneously mimic the tiny lines of a fingerprint (or toe print) while also depicting scenes from Thai history. It was too impressive, too massive, too shiny, for words. All I can do is show a disappointingly inadequate picture – the last I was able to take before my camera ran out of batteries.
The golden reclining Buddha and an ancient medical chart from Wat Pho
I spent the next hour in pure ecstasy as an expert masseuse pulled, flexed, and mashed my sore muscles into compliant mush. When I stood up again I no longer felt as though I had a body, just a content head floating back towards the market. In my very limited Thai, I chatted with a family at a food stall and ordered Pad Thai Mai Pet Ka (Thai noodles – not too spicy please). Seated on the water taxi on the way back upriver, I watched the sunset over Bangkok and fell in love with Thailand all over again.
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