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Published: August 10th 2008
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Anshu and Bals
at "The Grand Palace" We finally book into the "Royal Hotel" - this place is ideal for us as we want to spend the day exploring The Grand Palace and Wat Pho and then catch a train to Chaing Mai (from Hualampong railway station) at 7:30pm. The attractions are within walking distance. Have a snooze around 3am and are up at 10am. Have some breakfast and a shower. Check out at 11am. Leave our bags at the hotel and go off to The Grand Palace.
One of Thailand's most impressive sights: 54 acres featuring a collection of palatial buildings, golden stupas, sculpted nine-foot demons, and richly ornamented wats (temples). The architecture spans more than 200 years, and the highlight is undoubtedly the glorious Wat Phra Keo, the most sacred Buddhist sight in Thailand. The Wat is a complex of buildings culminating in the Chapel Royal, home to the venerated Emerald Buddha. As at all Thai temples, you must dress modestly (no bare knees or shoulders, no flip-flops) and remove your shoes before entering. The object of all the prostrations inside the Ubosoth, or Assembly Hall, is a tiny jadeite Buddha.
The Grand Palace was really awesome with its neatly manicured gardens, golden stupas
Statue
and amazing roof style. and amazing buildings. We walked around for ages exploring the entire complex and walking in and out of the different wats. Bit dissappointed that no one is allowed to take photos of the famous Emerald Buddha actually made of jade, but thats just how it is unfortunately.
Next we had some lunch along one of the main roads and then proceeded to Wat Pho. On the way there we stopped an asked a nearby vendor for directions and were so suprised when he told us that the wat was closed today for religious purposes and might open again later. He also advised that we go and see one of the other buddhas called "Lucky Buddha" in the meantime. We carried on walking in that direction anyway until we came across a group of tourists and asked them the same question - we were informed the this was what the locals did (maybe for fun) but the wat was definately open. How weird!!! We got there and the wat was open so we explored that next.
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Wat Pho (วัดโพธิ์), or Wat Phra Chetuphon (วัดพระเชตุพน) as it is generally known to the Thais, is mainly famous for the huge
Demon
guarding entrance. Reclining Buddha statue it houses. At 20 acres large, it is the largest Wat in Bangkok, and is technically the oldest too, as it was built around 200 years before Bangkok became Thailand's capital. However, today the Wat today bears virtually no resemblance to that originally constructed, as it was almost entirely rebuilt by Rama I when the capital was moved to Bangkok. It holds the dual honors of having both Thailand's largest reclining Buddha image and the most number of Buddha images in Thailand.
The highly impressive gold plated reclining Buddha is 46 meters long and 15 meters high, and is designed to illustrate the passing of the Buddha into nirvana. The feet and the eyes are engraved with mother-of-pearl decoration, and the feet also show the 108 auspicious characteristics of the true Buddha.
The large grounds of Wat Pho contain more than 1000 Buddha images in total, most from the ruins of the former capitals Ayuthaya and Sukhothai. The grounds are split in two by Chetuphon road. The northern section is generally the only one most people go to, and it includes a large bot (temple hall), enclosed by 394 bronze Buddha images. Outside the bot,
Images on wall
depicting story from religious book. there are 152 marble slabs depicting the second half of the epic Ramakian story.
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We enjoyed the peace and tranquility of Wat Pho and spent most of the afternoon exploring it before heading back to the hotel.
Once we got back to the hotel, we freshened up and changed our clothes in the downstairs ladies room and then had some dinner at the hotel restaurant before catching a cab to Hualampong railway station. Here we caught the overnight sleeper train to Chaing Mai.
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