Guardian
Reclining Buddha's head
Clearing incense offerings
 
Full length of the reclining Buddha
Women resting beneath a tree
Lion sculpture
Buddha image in the main temple
 
Stupas
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Having read an old Lonely Planet guide indicating that the royal palace is closed at noon, I head to the second site first, and walk along the outside wall until an entrance where a guard starts talking to me and tells me the place is closed until 1:30pm due to a ceremony. He keeps on asking me inquisitive questions and recommends other temples before I come back. He even calls a tuk-tuk (small three-wheeled taxi) so I can go around, and indicates a price. All along, I let him speak while being skeptical but courteous. I prefer to wander around some more rather than follow his plans, wondering what interest he can have in putting so much energy in these stories, and in good English too. I'm not surprised when I go around the corner and see the temple is open and that he was leading me on. I put on some long trousers to go inside. The Buddha is 45 meters long, is head 15 meters above the ground resting on a hand. It is impressive despite the scaffolds which surround it for its renovation. Its feet are decorated in sacred images made of mother of pearl shells, the statue being one of the most revered in the country. All around the temple, the site of Wat Pho hosts other smaller temples, places of worship dedicated to other gods. I walk around in deserted places, far from the usual tourist flow, and am charmed by the calm, the statues and the colors. I surprise myself on how little I strive at seeing it all, and on how I just take my time, which hasn't always been the case (as in Indonesia). I must say that I think I can easily come back to Bangkok without it changing much, and many people told me I needed only a few days to see the city's highlights. The main temple contains a statue of the Buddha that shines in golden light in the middle of a big room, as opposed to the reclinging Budha which seems trapped like Gulliver in a temple just fit to its size, and with scaffolds all around. Not far, a woman is on a bench beneath a tree as a rain shower passes by, reminding me of two women in a temple of Vietnam, visual analogy which will occur on several occasions during the day.
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Bangkok 