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  • Day 39

    Wat Pho and Wat Arun

    March 26, 2018 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C

    Bangkok, like Chiang Mai, is filled with temples. So, after lunch with our guide Nok, we headed out to see more temples.

    Our first stop after lunch was Wat Pho, which is the temple that houses the Reclining Buddha. I had read that the Buddha was 46 meters long, and 15 meters high, and that it was so large that the temple had to be built around the Buddha. But hearing the dimensions didn’t prepare me for the actual size — it is immense. Sadly, the way in which the temple was constructed makes it extraordinarily hard to get a view of the entire Buddha. In fact, there are only two spots in the temple where you can see the Buddha in its entirety, and there were incredibly long lines to be able to stand in those two spots. (I actually saw someone inadvertently step towards one of these two spots, unaware that there was a long line. A couple of the women standing on line threw a fit, raising their voices and telling the interloper to get to the back of the line . . .not too Buddhist in their approach.). Since it was sweltering inside the temple, we decided not to stand in line, but to admire the buddha piece by piece. We particularly enjoyed looking at his feet, which have intricate decorations of inlaid mother of pearl.

    We then went on a boat tour on one of the canals that runs through Bangkok. Not too surprisingly, we passed many temples. In front of one of the temples, we stopped to buy bread which we fed to huge catfish that live in the water right outside the temple. We were told that feeding the catfish was good luck. What I found most interesting about the boat ride was the differences in the structures that lined the canal. In addition to the temples, there were many houses, most of which were quite rundown. Yet, here and there were big, beautiful houses. Seeing the variation in the structures made it clear that in Thailand, like in Vietnam, there are vast inequalities in income. Although they overall standard of living in Thailand is obviously higher than in Vietnam, the disparities are still there.

    After crushing the canals, we went to Wat Arun, which is also known as the temple of the dawn. This temple is relatively new, having been built in the mid 1800s. The central portion of the temple is a huge spire, which is decorated with the ceramics from the ship that arrived with damages cargo. At one time you could climb the spire, but access was eliminated following the renovations that were completed a few years ago.

    We ended the day with a cold drink with our guide, Nok. As usual, I found talking to our guide as interesting as seeing the sites. Nok was raised outside of Bangkok, in a small town called Ayutthaya (known for ancient temples similar to those in Seam Reap in Cambodia and My Son in Vietnam). Her parents died when she was relatively young, and she as raised by her two older sisters (who are more than 20 years older than Nok). Her oldest sister is illiterate, but made sure that Nok attended college. After completing college, Nok visited the US and worked in Maryland for 5 months. She said that moving to the US was transformative for her — turning her from a shy, quiet, studious girl, to a young woman who had her own opinions and wanted to live a different life in which she had been raised. She returned to Thailand, and began teaching English. Eventually, she married a fellow teacher, who is from Great Britain. When they married, they traveled to England for the wedding. Her sister who raised her, flew with them for the wedding; everyone thought that it was super brave because her sister had never been on a plane and didn’t speak any English. As we sat and chatted with Nok, she told us about her friends, and their love of going on photo shoots (which is kind of like casual modeling, for fun). She also told us that her group is very diverse in terms of sexuality, and openness to more progressive life choices. Talking to her was just fascinating, and was a great end to another good day.
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