Bangkok Walk
Dec 10th, 2007, 04:17 PM
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Bangkok Walk
I thought some might be interested in this: with the arrival of cool weather in Bangkok I decided to re-visit some old places in Bangkok to see what’s new. I started at Wat Po to check out a report that the entry fee has gone up (true – it’s now a whopping 50 Baht). Even with the increased admission price, the area around the chapel housing the reclining Buddha is mobbed with tourists. I skip the statue and make my way around to the south side of the temple to gain access to the ordination hall in its double cloister.
The base of the hall is lined with stone plaques depicting the Ramakien, the Thai version of the Indian epic story of the Ramayana. The tablets were in fact rescued from a ruined temple in Ayuthaya and installed in Wat Po by the first king of Bangkok. Back 20 years ago, children selling rubbings of these stones used to throng every tour bus that stopped at the temple. Even then, people hardly ever visited the source of the pictures, and they still don’t today. The courtyard is completely empty and there are just a few Thais praying in the hall, which has one of the most beautiful altars in Bangkok.
From the ordination hall I make my way further back in the temple, to the massage area. The buildings where the massages are usually given is under renovation, as is much of the temple, but there’s a tent in the corner were you can still get a massage from the place where it all began.
I leave the temple by the rear exit and cross the street to Saranarom Park. There’s not much new here, except for a small ‘village’ of traditional Thai wooden houses representing the different regional styles. The houses are about half scale, so you can’t go inside them. On the opposite side of the park is the old Victorian styled greenhouse now used as a horticultural school. I exit the park near the greenhouse. The exit faces the Lord Canal, and there’s a ‘Dutch’ drawbridge over the canal right in front of the park exit.
Crossing the Dutch bridge puts me just a few steps down from Wat Ratchabophit. The entrance to the temple from this side is through the royal cemetery, with its curious mix of Gothic and Thai styled mausoleums. Some of them mix both architectural styles in one building. In addition to the cemetery, another unusual aspect of the temple is the circular rather than square cloister that surrounds the big pagoda (chedi) at the center of the monastery. You can access the cloister through gates on the east and west sides of the cloister. The ordination and prayer halls are built into the north and south sides of the ring. As if that weren’t unique enough, all the walls are covered with painted ceramic tiles. These led some guide book to dub this the ‘benjarong temple’, which is a pretty good description. Don’t miss the doors of the outer walls, which are carved into rather cartoon-ish depictions of sailors, royal cavaliers and other figures in uniform.
I leave the temple through the east gate. I’m not sure, but I think this is the street I’m looking for. I walk up a few blocks and confirm that I’m on Tanao Road, and about the same time come to the large intersection where I can see the Giant Swing down on the right. A short block up from here is the alley housing the small Chote Chitr restaurant. I nearly miss the shoe store. Being a guy, I don't have the shoe store radar gene. The shop full of gold standing Buddhas facing the soi might be a good landmark, except that this whole neighborhood is crammed with Buddha shops. As I’m alone, I just order some Vietnamese sausage fried rice, which is very good.
Fed and rested, I move on to Wat Suthat and the Giant Swing. The swing was re-built this year and re-dedicated by the king in September, but it looks pretty much the same. Inside the temple, the 150 Buddha images that line the cloister are all in the processes of being re-gilded. They were once in various states of disrepair.
Leaving Wat Suthat, I walk up Dinso Road to the Democracy Monument, and then down Ratchadamnoen Road to Wat Ratchanada. The temple is home to another quirky structure, the Loha Prasat, or metal monastery. The building is based on Sri Lankan temple designs and took more than 150 years of on-again off-again construction to complete. The name comes from the fact that the roof is made of cast iron, which gives it its black color. Just inside the gate there’s a table with the Buddhas for the different days of the week set up; a cat sleeps nestled up against the Wednesday night Buddha. There’s a new illustrated display of the building’s history and construction installed in the ground floor. The narrative is in Thai, but there are lots of photographs and illustrations. The upper floors catch a nice breeze, so I sit and cool off for a while in the shade before moving on. From the top floor, there’s a good view of the Golden Mount as well as Wat Suthat.
The temple is also home to an old and well known amulet market. What with the recent Jatukam craze, amulets are more popular than ever, but that’s also meant there are small markets all over Bangkok, including many shopping malls. I wasn’t sure if the market was still thriving, but it’s as big as ever. The crowded cramped market extends beyond the outer wall of Wat Ratchanada and into the space of an old abandoned temple. The ruins of the temple’s chapel in the middle of the market have been ‘restored’ after a fashion – they’ve been plastered and painted to prevent further deterioration.
I’m tired, but I push on to the Golden Mount. The view from the top of the mount is quite nice, although it’s now getting quite hot out. You can see a long ways for a full 360 degrees. There was a time when the standing Buddha at Wat Indrawiharn stood out on the skyline to the north, but now it takes me a while to spot just the golden umbrella over his head.
This is a very long walk, but it was not a bad day for it.
The base of the hall is lined with stone plaques depicting the Ramakien, the Thai version of the Indian epic story of the Ramayana. The tablets were in fact rescued from a ruined temple in Ayuthaya and installed in Wat Po by the first king of Bangkok. Back 20 years ago, children selling rubbings of these stones used to throng every tour bus that stopped at the temple. Even then, people hardly ever visited the source of the pictures, and they still don’t today. The courtyard is completely empty and there are just a few Thais praying in the hall, which has one of the most beautiful altars in Bangkok.
From the ordination hall I make my way further back in the temple, to the massage area. The buildings where the massages are usually given is under renovation, as is much of the temple, but there’s a tent in the corner were you can still get a massage from the place where it all began.
I leave the temple by the rear exit and cross the street to Saranarom Park. There’s not much new here, except for a small ‘village’ of traditional Thai wooden houses representing the different regional styles. The houses are about half scale, so you can’t go inside them. On the opposite side of the park is the old Victorian styled greenhouse now used as a horticultural school. I exit the park near the greenhouse. The exit faces the Lord Canal, and there’s a ‘Dutch’ drawbridge over the canal right in front of the park exit.
Crossing the Dutch bridge puts me just a few steps down from Wat Ratchabophit. The entrance to the temple from this side is through the royal cemetery, with its curious mix of Gothic and Thai styled mausoleums. Some of them mix both architectural styles in one building. In addition to the cemetery, another unusual aspect of the temple is the circular rather than square cloister that surrounds the big pagoda (chedi) at the center of the monastery. You can access the cloister through gates on the east and west sides of the cloister. The ordination and prayer halls are built into the north and south sides of the ring. As if that weren’t unique enough, all the walls are covered with painted ceramic tiles. These led some guide book to dub this the ‘benjarong temple’, which is a pretty good description. Don’t miss the doors of the outer walls, which are carved into rather cartoon-ish depictions of sailors, royal cavaliers and other figures in uniform.
I leave the temple through the east gate. I’m not sure, but I think this is the street I’m looking for. I walk up a few blocks and confirm that I’m on Tanao Road, and about the same time come to the large intersection where I can see the Giant Swing down on the right. A short block up from here is the alley housing the small Chote Chitr restaurant. I nearly miss the shoe store. Being a guy, I don't have the shoe store radar gene. The shop full of gold standing Buddhas facing the soi might be a good landmark, except that this whole neighborhood is crammed with Buddha shops. As I’m alone, I just order some Vietnamese sausage fried rice, which is very good.
Fed and rested, I move on to Wat Suthat and the Giant Swing. The swing was re-built this year and re-dedicated by the king in September, but it looks pretty much the same. Inside the temple, the 150 Buddha images that line the cloister are all in the processes of being re-gilded. They were once in various states of disrepair.
Leaving Wat Suthat, I walk up Dinso Road to the Democracy Monument, and then down Ratchadamnoen Road to Wat Ratchanada. The temple is home to another quirky structure, the Loha Prasat, or metal monastery. The building is based on Sri Lankan temple designs and took more than 150 years of on-again off-again construction to complete. The name comes from the fact that the roof is made of cast iron, which gives it its black color. Just inside the gate there’s a table with the Buddhas for the different days of the week set up; a cat sleeps nestled up against the Wednesday night Buddha. There’s a new illustrated display of the building’s history and construction installed in the ground floor. The narrative is in Thai, but there are lots of photographs and illustrations. The upper floors catch a nice breeze, so I sit and cool off for a while in the shade before moving on. From the top floor, there’s a good view of the Golden Mount as well as Wat Suthat.
The temple is also home to an old and well known amulet market. What with the recent Jatukam craze, amulets are more popular than ever, but that’s also meant there are small markets all over Bangkok, including many shopping malls. I wasn’t sure if the market was still thriving, but it’s as big as ever. The crowded cramped market extends beyond the outer wall of Wat Ratchanada and into the space of an old abandoned temple. The ruins of the temple’s chapel in the middle of the market have been ‘restored’ after a fashion – they’ve been plastered and painted to prevent further deterioration.
I’m tired, but I push on to the Golden Mount. The view from the top of the mount is quite nice, although it’s now getting quite hot out. You can see a long ways for a full 360 degrees. There was a time when the standing Buddha at Wat Indrawiharn stood out on the skyline to the north, but now it takes me a while to spot just the golden umbrella over his head.
This is a very long walk, but it was not a bad day for it.
Dec 10th, 2007, 05:00 PM
#3
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Thanks for your account of your walk. I think we visited all of these places between last year and this year (in three separate walks) with the exception of the cemetery.
By the way, I always arrive at Wat Po right as it opens and never have to deal with crowds.
By the way, I always arrive at Wat Po right as it opens and never have to deal with crowds.
Dec 10th, 2007, 05:00 PM
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Michael, when you go out like this, do the touts and street hawkers try to pull you in, or is there something about the way you present yourself that shows them you are not just some tourist? I have wanted to ask you that for some time now 
Wish we were there in BKK with you, we are getting ready for a huge ice storm here in Missouri, yuck!
Wish we were there in BKK with you, we are getting ready for a huge ice storm here in Missouri, yuck!
Dec 10th, 2007, 09:37 PM
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Well... one of the nice things about this walk is that, aside from Wat Po, most of the places are well off the tourist trail.
Even Wat Po doesn't have the touts it used to have. Somebody offered to be my guide after I paid, but that was all I got. Even the massage desk didn't seem over-anxious to push their services at me (maybe I'm too big for them).
Wat Ratchabophit was completely deserted, and Wat Suthat didn't have more than a few people. A temple boy at the Loha Prasat practiced his English on me, but that wasn't bothersome.
I didn't get touted in the amulet market. I felt like a bit of a curiosity there, since they don't get too many western visitors. Even the Golden Mount was pretty sedate.
On the whole, and especially compared to Bali, Thailand has gotten a lot mellower where touts are concerned. The worst of it is at the airport, IMHO. Once you get past the post-customs gauntlet, it's pretty easy to avoid touts.
Even Wat Po doesn't have the touts it used to have. Somebody offered to be my guide after I paid, but that was all I got. Even the massage desk didn't seem over-anxious to push their services at me (maybe I'm too big for them).
Wat Ratchabophit was completely deserted, and Wat Suthat didn't have more than a few people. A temple boy at the Loha Prasat practiced his English on me, but that wasn't bothersome.
I didn't get touted in the amulet market. I felt like a bit of a curiosity there, since they don't get too many western visitors. Even the Golden Mount was pretty sedate.
On the whole, and especially compared to Bali, Thailand has gotten a lot mellower where touts are concerned. The worst of it is at the airport, IMHO. Once you get past the post-customs gauntlet, it's pretty easy to avoid touts.
Dec 10th, 2007, 11:26 PM
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Thank you Michael. I will make a copy of this report for Feb when we will be there. I am a great fan of looking at cities on foot but will wait util we are there to decide if it is too hot for us to walk.
Dec 11th, 2007, 03:58 AM
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Hi
Sounds like a nice walk. I have done much of the same and it is fascinating to walk around in Bangkok. When I went there in May I walked and walked and in the end I was soaked in sweat...I guess I had forgotten how hot and humid in can be there
Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com - trip reports and pictures
Sounds like a nice walk. I have done much of the same and it is fascinating to walk around in Bangkok. When I went there in May I walked and walked and in the end I was soaked in sweat...I guess I had forgotten how hot and humid in can be there
Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com - trip reports and pictures
