Wat Saket

After lunch, I felt really full from the richness of the food, so I assuaged my guilt about eating that cholesterol bomb by resolving to climb the nearby Wat Saket, or Golden Mountain. Set on a small hill, Wat Saket is my favorite temple in all of Thailand. One had to climb over 300 steps - the reward at the end of the climb is a 360 degree view of Bangkok. At Wat Saket, I noted a few things had changed since I last visited in 2013. For one, there was a coffee shop partway up the steps. Also, there was a new cave-like structure with a large standing Buddha in it. The climb up was as kitschy as I remember it, with random statues, a rubber ducky in a pond of koi, and other kitsch. What was new - and welcome - was a new mist spraying system. Reaching the top, I enjoyed the views of the city and I also enjoyed observing the worshippers at the golden stupa on top.
After about 20 minutes at the top, I descended the stairs and encountered an exhibit I hadn't noticed in the past. It showed a flock of vultures devouring a human body. How gruesome. The sign at the exhibit said that between 1820 and 1880, there were numerous cholera outbreaks in Bangkok. Many of the dead bodies were brought to the area around Wat Saket, but the crematoriums often could not keep up with the volume of bodies. Flocks of vultures made the area their home as they gathered to devour the bodies that the crematoriums were not able to process.

After all this sightseeing, I took the klong taxi back to my hotel and chilled for a couple of hours.

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