This is where we spent our first morning in Bangkok - the Wat (temple) of the Golden Buddha located in the Chinatown section of Bangkok. We "Grab-ed" a car from our hotel to the temple. We'd never used Grab before but it was quite good, and in a nicer vehicle and a bit cheaper than a taxi.
The Golden Buddha, located inside an elevated temple, dates back to the 1400's; but its exact origins are unknown. It weighs over 5 tons. In the late 1700's it was covered in thick plaster to protect it from being captured during attacks from Burma. It remained encased in its plaster shell, unknown to everyone, until 1954 when it was being moved to a new location (having spent decades under a tin roof in an out-of-the-way Bangkok temple). While being moved, it fell from its harness and the plaster cracked revealing the golden statue for the first time in two hundred years.
The current temple housing the Golden Buddha was built in 2010 and has become a major attraction for tourists and Buddhist pilgrims in recent years.
People entering the temple must remove their shoes before climbing the marble steps to the temple. There are metal racks for shoes under protective umbrellas - each of which carries the warning "Buddha is not for tattoo". Anyone having a Buddha tattoo must cover it before being permitted to enter the temple.
We took a Tuk Tuk ride to nowhere. Actually, we were conned into it by a driver who said he was taking us where we had asked to go but instead took us the his "sponsor's" high end jewelry shop and begged us to "Just look inside for two minute and I take you anywhere you want no charge."
We walked around a very high end jewelry store for 2 minutes then left and had our driver drop us off a few blocks away. We then spent an hour or so walking around Chinatown. We passed the historic Shangri La Hotel with its line of black hotel Mercedes out front and eventually stopped to get out of the heat at a very modern plaza of food shops and department stores - including Starbucks, McDonald's, and what has become a favorite of ours: Swenson's Ice Cream.
Not a bad first day in Bangkok.
The Golden Buddha, located inside an elevated temple, dates back to the 1400's; but its exact origins are unknown. It weighs over 5 tons. In the late 1700's it was covered in thick plaster to protect it from being captured during attacks from Burma. It remained encased in its plaster shell, unknown to everyone, until 1954 when it was being moved to a new location (having spent decades under a tin roof in an out-of-the-way Bangkok temple). While being moved, it fell from its harness and the plaster cracked revealing the golden statue for the first time in two hundred years.
The current temple housing the Golden Buddha was built in 2010 and has become a major attraction for tourists and Buddhist pilgrims in recent years.
People entering the temple must remove their shoes before climbing the marble steps to the temple. There are metal racks for shoes under protective umbrellas - each of which carries the warning "Buddha is not for tattoo". Anyone having a Buddha tattoo must cover it before being permitted to enter the temple.
We took a Tuk Tuk ride to nowhere. Actually, we were conned into it by a driver who said he was taking us where we had asked to go but instead took us the his "sponsor's" high end jewelry shop and begged us to "Just look inside for two minute and I take you anywhere you want no charge."
We walked around a very high end jewelry store for 2 minutes then left and had our driver drop us off a few blocks away. We then spent an hour or so walking around Chinatown. We passed the historic Shangri La Hotel with its line of black hotel Mercedes out front and eventually stopped to get out of the heat at a very modern plaza of food shops and department stores - including Starbucks, McDonald's, and what has become a favorite of ours: Swenson's Ice Cream.
After another hour of Tuk Tuk riding in 95 degree heat, a visit to a lovely artists' gallery, and a taxicab back to the hotel, we crashed for the evening in air-conditioned comfort.
Man it sounds like it is hot in Thailand. And that sure was tricky of that tuk tuk driver to take you to that jewelry place!
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