You must visit these temples! Wat Arun and Wat Pho in Bangkok

Despite I've visited Thailand so many times, this is my first time visiting its Capital city Bangkok. The moment I take a step in Bangkok, there's something familiar with the weather and ambiance; It's almost like I've been here before. The city is really crowded with traffic jam everywhere especially after work-hours, but by going to Bangkok's famous market you will feel relieved you came here. One more thing that drives my mind crazy is Wat Pho and Wat Arun, a couple of famous temple in Bangkok with complicated architecture and detailed ornaments.

WAT PHO

This is the home of the renowned reclining Buddha statue which have been there for so long. The temple complex was first built around 1688 - 1703 with the date and founder remains unknown. I didn't have enough time to explore the entire complex but managed to see the reclining Buddha statue. The reclining Buddha statue is really really massive creation with 15 m height and 46 m long; It's a really tough task to photograph the whole statue in one picture because of pillars that blocked our view.

The reclining Buddha temple was built by Rama III in 1832, the statue is just so huge that you can't see it whole up-close. The interesting fact that you can see about the statue is, all of the Buddha's fingers all the same length. You will notice that the Buddha's toe are all aligned.

Outside the reclining Buddha temple, there's a miniature waterfall with some statues around it, doing poses like they are praying. Aside from this temple, there is also other temples and structures but due to tight time schedule I didn't have the chance to explore more around this sites.

The entrance to this tourism site costs 100 baht and judging from what you can see and explore I guess it's worthy of being visited every once in a while. The incomplete tour around this sites will definitely drives me back here to visit it once more to see with my own eyes what hidden precious treasure they hold to entertain me and blow my mind.

WAT ARUN

Not far from Wat Pho, you can go to Chao Phraya river and witness the beauty of Wat Arun from across. To get there you must cross the river and it cost about 15 Baht. Wat arun is one of the most popular landmark in Thailand especially Bangkok and it's said when the first light of the sun comes out in the morning, it will reflect off the surface of the temple with pearly iridescent; The name Wat Arun itself means Temple of Dawn.

The temple was built in the time of Ayutthaya kingdom around 17^th century, but the towers was built in the early 19^th century in the reign of king Rama II. Though it's one of the most famous landmark, the height of the central prang (spires) was reported differently from 66.8 m to 86 m. The pagodas are encrusted with beautiful and colorful porcelain and there are 4 satellite prang surrounding the corners.

The magically beautiful architectures are really colorful and have the "luxurious" feel when you look at it as the porcelain and china plates was placed into the prang neatly and evenly. On the main prang, there are some kind of small chamber with red gate which contains Golden statue of Buddha, each with different poses and settings.

The place is clean and really tidy for a tourism spot as this is a Temple so they might at least maintain the appropriateness of the location. The entrance to this space cost 50 baht, a steal deal to enjoy the grandness of these prang. When you visit in hot season (from March to May), you obviously need a hat, shades, sun-block, and an umbrella if you think you needed it; The weather are so hot and the sunshine will totally strikes you blind if you're not wearing sunglasses.

if you'd like to visit 1 of these temples or both in Bangkok, you better come in cool season (from November to February); The sun in still bright but does not sting hard like in the hot season, and of course prepare your raincoat or umbrella if you want to take a look in the rainy season (from June to October).

When you got to visit these places, you will feel relaxed or even inspired because of the unusual sight you get when you're just strolling around the city. This is why I love Bangkok aside from the food and the dirty-cheap but high quality fashion items. To sum up, Bangkok is definitely a fine city to visit every now and then. While you queue in line to enter this wonderful site, please comfort yourself and wander in The Tavern!