City & Temple Tour Bangkok
Discover three of Bangkok’s most beautiful temples, the Marble Temple, Wat Traimit and Wat Pho.
Tour Chinatown, one of Bangkok’s oldest districts, an area of narrow alleys, busy street markets, restaurants, wooden shop houses, gold shops and Chinese shrines.
Chinatown
Chinatown which is one of the oldest districts of Bangkok is an experience that will not be easily forgotten with its endless number of restaurants, wooden shop houses and gold shops. This area located between the Chao Phraya river and Yaowarat road is a great place to pick up some souvenirs. The small shops on the narrow and busy streets sell everything imaginable at very affordable prices.
Three famous temples
Thailand’s capital houses hundreds of Buddhist temples, some more famous than the other.
Wat Benchamabophit
The Marble Temple or Wat Benchamabophit is a relatively new temple, it was built a little more than a century ago during the reign of King Rama V after completion of the King’s new Dusit Palace.
The temple is named for the white Italian marble is it constructed from. This temple combines Thai and European architectural influences. The temple’s principal Buddha image is a copy of the famous Phra Buddha Chinnarat Buddha, a beautiful 700 years old image in the Bhumisparsha mudra.
Wat Traimit
The Wat Traimit in Bangkok’s Chinatown is best known for its huge pure gold Buddha image, which is the largest golden image in the world. This Buddha image in Sukhothai style is around 700 years old and weighs five and a half tons.
Until 1954 when the temple was being restored it was believed that the Golden Buddha was ordinary stucco. When people tried to move the image to another building it fell and part of the plaster was broken revealing the gold. Most likely people covered the Buddha image with common plaster to protect it from the Burmese when the capital city of Ayutthaya was under siege in the 18th century.
Wat Pho, the temple of the Reclining Buddha
The Wat Pho is one of the oldest and largest temple complexes in Bangkok and houses the famous huge Reclining Buddha.
It also contains the highest number of Buddha images in Thailand, more than a thousand, most of which originate from the former capital cities of Ayutthaya and Sukhothai.
The Reclining Buddha image is gold plated and measures a very impressive 46 meters long and 15 meters high and illustrates the passing of the Buddha into nirvana.
Another thing the Wat Pho is famous for is Thai massage. This is Thailand’s center for traditional Thai massage. The stone walls hold inscriptions on massage techniques dating back to the reign of King Rama III. It is an excellent place to try a traditional Thai massage. There is also a massage school where classes on Thai massage can be taken.
Modern Bangkok
Modern Bangkok is an impressing place with its high rise buildings, markets and highways and busy traffic. Many magnificent buildings like the Baiyoke Sky Hotel, the highest building in Thailand and the head office of Kasikorn bank on the river as well as many high rise condo buildings make up the skyline of this city.
Bangkok’s best attractions
