You have only 2 days in Bangkok, where do you go ?

To the city centre to see the night market, see the river, try a Thai massage and visit a temple or wat (pronounce “Vat”) as you call them here.

Wat Pho is a good choice if you want to combine visiting a wat and getting a massage since there’s a massage school in the temple (it’s suppose to be the birth place to the traditional Thai massage).

So here we go, to Wat Pho !

Wat Pho is famous for its huge (43 metres long, 15 metres high) reclining Buddha. How famous?

Famous like you have to queue after buses of tourists all along the 43 meters of the Buddha. And queue again if you want to take a picture with no one taking a selfie on it…

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Famous like once you’ve crossed the feet of the Buddha, you have to queue again behind the people buying coins to throw in the metallic buckets all along the back of the Buddha. At least it makes a nice music of clinging.

Then, you go out and you walk along the other buildings to see other statues of Buddha and some chedis.

And here you can observe the tour tourism effects: while you had lots of tourists along the reclining Buddha, you can sometimes feel all alone wandering in the rest of the temple. It’s a shame some people will come just to see one huge statue when there’s so many other wonderful things to see in this place : tones of Buddha images, a working monastery with its school, shinning buildings…

Oh well, pity for them but better for us, at least we can enjoy a peaceful visit of the temple in the centre of such a crowded city !

And Happy Birthday Mag !