Touring Bangkok’s Grand Palace, Emerald Buddha, & Reclining Buddha is not to be missed, as these are hands down the most popular “must see’s and do” in Bangkok!
The Emerald Buddha and Grand Palace are right next to each other, so you can’t miss either of them. Don’t be surprised if you spend hours walking around, soaking in their beauty, as the Grand Place isn’t one major building, but an array of many buildings. I particularly enjoyed the Queen Sirikit Museum of Textiles – a definite must visit – especially if you love dresses like I do!
The Emerald Buddha is the most important Buddhist temple in Thailand. The palace grounds are its backdrop, and the fact that you can’t take a camera inside to capture its beauty makes it even more unique and special (to me at least). Although, of course I so wish I could’ve snapped pictures of the inside.
After the Emerald Buddha and the Grand Palace, it was off to the Reclining Buddha (Wat Pho). This temple is located just behind the Emerald Buddha, and is exactly what it sounds like – a statue of Buddha in the reclining position. While it’s only a ten minute walk, thanks to our private tour, we were able to drive there – in a freezing cold vehicle. A definite necessity when it’s 100+ degrees outside!
Anyway, the Reclining Buddha measures 150 feet long and is no joke. Josh was excited for this stop, as it was featured on The Amazing Race, which he’s obsessed with. A popular thing to do here is purchase bronze coins at the entrance and drop them in all 108 bowls. The money given goes to the monks, and towards the overall upkeep and renovation of Wat Pho. Plus, it makes a fun ringing sound as the coins fall into the bowls, a sound you will constantly hear while visiting!
As I briefly mentioned here, bring socks (and don’t wear flip flops). Most, if not all of the temples in Bangkok, require the removal of shoes, and the dress code doesn’t end there. Pants must go all the way to the feet – this means no ankles showing! No tank tops or short sleeves that show your shoulders, and obviously low-cut shirts are out too. Basically, the less skin showing the better. As you can see from our pictures, I wore long pants, sneakers (and socks!), a short sleeve shirt, and then a long sleeved, light tunic over it. I had a lot of trouble finding something to wear (because of the heat), so when I found the perfect tunic at Victoria’s Secret, I was thrilled! It’s so hot that wearing any sort of sleeves isn’t ideal, but what are you gonna do? I’m just glad we saw all the major temples on the same day, and didn’t have to worry about a dress code for the remainder of our trip!
Anyway, enjoy pictures from the above mentioned places -Grand Palace, Emerald Buddha, and the Reclining Buddha – below!
Still more from Bangkok to come!
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