Temples In The Sky

It’s time to speak the truth.

You have probably noticed that we’re lagging behind with our “real-time” posts and the gap seems to be getting bigger day by day. Our blog was meant to be an easy task but has now become more of a burden since we started it. To be clear: We absolutely love having a blog - it just takes much more valuable time writing one than we expected.

However, cutting down our posts to pictures/videos only is not an option to us, because we also want to share our thoughts and feelings. Writing things down helps us to process our experiences and we also really like the idea of having a diary as it helps us to remember specific situations and the names of people / places / food / drinks etc….

After all, we named this trip “an unforgettable journey” ;-)

Therefore, we will - from now on - shift from daily to weekly blog posts in which we will summarize and highlight selected moments that we want to share in particular. In between those posts we will share fotos without a lot of text. This is the tradeoff between having a diary and living life to the fullest. Changing the way we operate will also help us to catch up again. Trust us, it’s weird to write about “today” when actually a couple of days have gone by. 😄

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Now back to the important things. TODAY we woke up at 9:30 to pack our bags and get ready for a location change. We checked out from our hotel at noon and took a taxi to the Ascott Sathon Tower right in the center of Bangkok where we had booked a Condo for 2 nights.

The place was great and our room was directly opposite the King Power Mahanakhon Sky Tower which we had visited a couple of days ago. Our hotel had a really nice restaurant with a super cool pool area and a very big gym. The change of scene came at exactly the right moment and gave us a new perspective on the city. After some rest in our 36 sqm room we decided to have a go at the places we didn’t yet visit:

The Grand Palace (Phra Borom Maha Ratcha Wang) and The Golden Mount (Wat Saket).

So, we took *drum roll* the Sky train from our new home station (Saint Louis) to Silom. From there we walked through the city until we arrived at the Grand Palace entrance. Here, Pascal needed to buy himself a pair of pants to cover his legs as he was only wearing shorts which is not an appropriate outfit for sacred places in Thailand. This was his opportunity to finally get his long desired elephant pants and probably the reason why he didn’t put on long pants in the first place. Well played…

Once we got into the Grand Palace (which is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Thailand) we were immediately stunned by its beauty.

Rather than being a single structure, the Grand Palace is made up of numerous buildings, halls, pavilions set around open lawns, gardens and courtyards. Its asymmetry and eclectic styles are due to its organic development, with additions and rebuilding being made by successive reigning kings over 200 years of history, being the official residence of the Kings since 1782.

We both especially loved the Temple of the Emerald Buddha which had the most beautiful Buddha statue(s) we have seen so far. We would’ve loved to stay longer inside the temple building but the vibe got killed by ignorant tourists who didn’t accept the fact that fotos are not allowed in here. The guards had to intervene almost every 2 minutes or so and tell people to stop taking pictures which was quite annoying (obviously not the guards fault).

After we enjoyed the beautiful garden area outside where we took some pictures (which was allowed here) we left Grand Palace with a Tuk Tuk to get some food.

Our initial plan was to try out the famous Crab Omelette at Raan Jay Fai Com Chien (known from Netflix’s “Somebody feed Phil”) but the waiting list was very long (1,5 - 2h to get a table) and we wanted to see the sun set at the Golden Mount which was due within the next hour. So, we sat down at the place next door called “Thai Food at Samranrat” which also happens to have Crab Omelette on the menu (5x cheaper!!). Obviously, we don’t have a direct comparison but the food there was very delicious as well and we would definitely go back. Next time also with more time to try the famous Crabb Omelette at Fai’s for sure!

After some delicious Pad Thai, Crabb Omelette and some Fried Egg-Noodles with Chicken we headed towards the next attraction: The Golden Mount and Wat Saket!

Spoiler alert: For us the golden Mount was the most inspiring attraction in Bangkok. It’s hard to put into words what exactly is so special about this monument but we’ll give it a try anyway.

First of all, we were very lucky to arrive at the foot of the hill at a time (17:45) when there weren’t many tourists around so we could experience the site without any disturbance. We instantly felt the calm almost magic atmosphere and none of us spoke a word for quite a while. Even the city seemed to have gone much quieter and its traffic noise had turned into a very distant peaceful hum.

The temple “Wat Saket” itself is located at the base of the hill and can be missed easily when entering the site to climb up to the top of the hill. In the temple complex there is an ordination hall where Buddhist scriptures are kept as well as the monks living quarters. Wat Saket or the Temple of the Golden Mount was built during the Ayutthaya Period. The Golden Mount was built under the rule of King Rama V, is 77 meters tall and houses many Buddhist relics that were once found at the ancient Nepal city Kapilavastu. Note: Kapilavastu was an ancient city in the north of the Indian subcontinent
where King Suddhodana and Queen Maya are believed to have lived, as did their son Prince Siddartha Gautama (the first Buddha).

After hanging up a golden leaf with our names on it to make a wish we started walking up the 344 steps to the Golden Mount. The sound of rhythmically chanting monks and distant bells rang softly in our ears, urging us to take the next step up the staircase to get closer to the bright and shiny stupa which was glittering at the top in the setting sun. The low steps of the spiralling concrete stairway made the walk to the top very easy. You just need to take it slowly and set one foot in front of the next, tempted to stay in rhythm with the chant recording that was being broadcasted through hundreds of small speakers.

Along the path there were funny animal statues that made the climb cheerful. Big bells and a huge gong invited us to strike them (softly) for good luck. Once we reached the main Hall at the top we were greeted by a selection of beautiful golden Buddha statues. Small bells that were attached all around the outside roof overhang were ringing as the wind was moving them gently. All of the windows in the hall were wide open - inviting in the outside air, chanting sounds and the light of the red sunset sky.

Semmy and I sat there for almost half an hour to suck in the atmosphere watching the sun go down over Bangkok’s contrastingly skyline. The scenery was wonderful and gave us goose bumps.

As it was getting darker outside and the city lights came on we thought about climbing down again. However, there was one more task to complete as Semmy’s Sister Anni and her boyfriend Alex had challenged us to find their “signature” which they had left there for us only a couple of days ago. We looked in every corner of the hall but couldn’t find it. Luckily they then send us a tipp on WhatsApp to look at the red cloth on top of the stupa. On top where??

Yes, we almost missed the best part by not realising there was another staircase to the ACTUAL top of the mount. Wow - that almost got embarrassing!!

In our defence, the stairway was a bit hidden and there was no one else going up at the time so our herd instinct (follow what everyone else is doing) did not get triggered. 😂

Anyway, we climbed up the last steps and finally made it to the golden stupa which was located in the middle of the plateau that was surrounded by high walls to shield it from the outside. It was even calmer up there than inside the hall. There were about a dozen people around. Some praying in silence, others simply beholding the beautiful structure in awe. Semmy and I walked around the stupa and found a red cloth which hundreds and hundreds of people had signed already. We really looked hard for Anni and Alex’s signatures but couldn’t find it anywhere. Most probably “their” cloth had already been removed and hung onto the stupa which made the search impossible for us.

After accepting this fact we sat down on the soft floor for another good 20 minutes or so to listen to the chanting while gazing at the stupa which was shining brighter and brighter against the night sky. It was an unbelievable beautiful experience and our hearts were filled with pure love.

After a while we decided to head back to our hotel and have a nice evening together - promising that this wasn’t the last time we visited this spiritual place. ***Read more