Bangkok Trip – Wat Pho (The Temple of the Reclining Buddha)

Wednesday, 2022-10-05

In November 2019, just before the coronavirus widespread, we went to Thailand for a week to meet up with our eldest daughter. She works and lives in Canada. She works at a beauty supply & personal care products manufacturing. She had to attend a 1-week international cosmetic exhibition with her six colleagues in Bangkok, Thailand. We didn't want to miss this rare opportunity to meet her in Bangkok. The last time we met was in June 2016.

We arrived in Bangkok on the same day except that she had arrived earlier than us. We stayed at the JW Marriot Bangkok. She and her Filipino colleague got a room upgrade for free as the parents were coming to meet them. When we arrived at the hotel around 19:00, she had already checked in but was not in her room. We reckoned she went out with her colleagues for dinner, so we waited in the lobby. Half an hour later, she showed up with her colleagues, and we met and introduced everyone.

That first night we went to bed around midnight. We also learned that the cosmetic exhibition started from 9:00 to 17:00. She had to meet her group for breakfast at 7:00 and leave the hotel by 8:00 every morning. They planned to explore Bangkok and its diverse cuisine after the exhibition. So it looked like we would not be able to spend much time together. It seemed the only time we could spend time together was only during breakfast, and that was indeed the case.

Breakfast was served from 6:00 - 10:00, and the good thing about having breakfast at a 5-star hotel was you could choose from a variety of Indian, Oriental, Thai, and Western breakfasts. Breakfast became my favorite meal of the day! My daughter's group had apparently arranged for a minivan to pick them up and take them to the exhibition. After they left, we also got ready to explore Bangkok, just the two of us.

Since it was still early, we decided to walk and explore the surrounding area near our hotel. We walked from West to East, crossed the street, back from East to West, and made notes of restos and food courts of interest. After exploring the surrounding area for almost 2 hours, we decided to return to the hotel and check the next place to visit. We remembered at the reception by the hotel's lobby, there was a rack full of leaflets for tourist destinations. We took one of the leaflets, and there it was, our next stop had been decided: Wat Pho (the Temple of the Reclining Buddha).

It was already 10ish, and we checked Google maps for the whereabouts of the temple, and it was only about 8 km from our hotel. We arranged for Grab online taxi (similar to Uber) to pick us up at the hotel, and it didn't take long to wait. By the way, we both bought local SIM cards at the airport. This is important if you want to utilize an online taxi.

The trip to the temple took about 40 minutes. Traffic was not too bad as it had passed the morning rush hours. The temple complex covers a vast area, and when we arrived, we saw a long queue at the entrance. It took us some time to queue up to buy tickets, and it was a hot day. Entering the complex requires visitors to wear proper attire and a sarong, just like entering any temple in Bali. The sarong can be rented at the entrance for additional fees and returned on your way out.

Wat Pho is one of the oldest and largest Buddhist temple complex in Bangkok covering an area of 80,000 square meters.

Outside the main entrance.

The courtyard with many temples, statues, and stupas with intricate and beautiful designs.

Line of golden Buddha statues.

Take off your shoes upon entering any of the temple here.

The main hall and the most sacred building of the complex used for performing Buddhist rituals.

The reclining Buddha figure is 15 m high and 46 m long, and it is one of the largest Buddha statues in Thailand.

On the way out we saw a tent serving free cold bottled water, but look at the line!

We picked the wrong time of day to visit the complex. When we arrived, it was around 11sh. It was a hot and humid day. The complex was busy and full of tourists. We stayed only for a couple of hours and decided to go somewhere to have lunch as we were getting hungry. We stopped at a nearby restaurant just around the corner outside the complex to cool down, refuel, and decide what we wanted to do next. So, that was our little adventure to visit Wat Pho. Our next stop after lunch had been decided, Yaowarat Road, which is the main artery of Bangkok's Chinatown. It's also on the way back to our hotel. Stay tuned!

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A baby boomer who's trying to embrace and adapt to the new digital world. Worked for over 30 years in the IT industry before retiring and now run an online vegetable delivery and hydroponics equipment business. Enjoy traveling, cooking, writing, playing pool, and all IT-related stuff. You're always welcome to leave a comment or feedback, and an upvote or reblog is also greatly appreciated.

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