The month of November quite literally took me all around the world. Over the past few weeks I had the amazing privilege to get to travel for my job and in the last 30 days I’ve set foot on the soil of the following countries:
- Bangkok, Thailand
- New Delhi, India
- Warsaw, Poland
- Prague, Czech Republic
- Amsterdam, Netherlands
Be prepared for a lot of travel themed posts. 🙂
The first stop of my work journey took me to Bangkok, Thailand. I had never been to Asia before and never dreamed I would get to visit Thailand. Nevertheless, after a 26 hour flight (it is as horrible as it sounds) I found myself stepping out into the hot and humid land of Bangkok. I had a limited amount of time in this beautiful city. In between work and meetings, I made a point to visit Buddhist sites and explore the teachings of Buddha!
The Grand Palace
I got to visit Thailand at a very unique time – their beloved King Bhumibol Adulyadej had recently passed away on October 13, 2016. As I walked through the city streets, everyone wore variations of black and white to acknowledge the country’s year long state of mourning. Statues and memorials were also set up all over the city commemorating the life of the King. People from all over the country were also flocking to the palace to pay their last respects to the king, whose body lay in state at the Grand Palace. Because of this my visit to the Grand Palace was a little different that what a typical tourist would expect – it was solemn and quiet.
The Palace complex sits in the heart of Bangkok just off the Chao Phraya River. Because of the King laying in state, I didn’t get to go inside palace but was able to see the outside – here are a few of the shots I was able to take! I didn’t want to take too many to make sure I was being respectful to the Thai people and the loss of their King.
Emerald Buddha & Wat Phra Kaew Temple
The Emerald Buddha sits inside the Wat Phra Kaew chapel within the official palace complex, so when you visit the palace you’ll also likely visit the temple. The Buddha appeared in the fifteenth century and has become symbol of the Thai nation. My favorite fact about the Buddha is that it has attire for each season in Thailand: hot, rainy, and cool. With each passing of the season the Thai king ceremoniously dresses the Emerald Buddha in its respective attire consisting of gold headdresses, bracelets, and other beautiful ornamentation.
The temple was so crowded and the air in Bangkok ranges from hot and muggy to very hot and muggy. Because of the jet lag, heat, and crowd I have to confess that I was a little grumpy when entering the site to view the Buddha. But once I went inside I stood in awe of the intricate details and perked up pretty quick. The temple is filled with semi-precious stones, carvings, and colorful murals depicting the life of Buddha and his teachings. Everything was just so pretty !
The ornateness made finding the Emerald Buddha difficult and I spent about five minutes trying to figure out which statue was the famous symbol! The Buddha is small and made of Jade. It was dressed in gold ornamentation that looked like priceless jewels. Unfortunately, you are not allowed to take photos of the Buddha, but if you are interested in what it looks like check out this link.
Also, fun fact about Buddhist temples – make sure you take off your shoes before entering the sacred site. When I dreamed of visiting the temple I did not consider also having the experience alongside the pungent aroma of stinky feet. But what can I say, in Thailand it’s humid and everyone gets a little smelly. 🙂 It made the experience all the more human!
Wat Pho (The Reclining Buddha)
This was my favorite temple – and even getting to this temple was a fun adventure. The most efficient route is to take a boat up the Chao Phraya River because the traffic in Bangkok is pretty intense and it does take a long while to get places by car. So if you have the option, make sure you go by boat. It’s cooler and much more relaxed! Check out the website I used to find my way to each attraction here.
When entering Wat Pho, I was again impressed with the intensity of detail and imagery housed throughout the site. The pointed roofs, the sculptures of lions and Asian guards, the colorful paintings – it is breathtaking. The site has over one thousand images of Buddha and is also home to the first public university in Thailand. Themes of religion, science, and literature are taught with the murals and sculptures adorning the temple. A massage and traditional medical school also operates within the temple walls.
While the Emerald Buddha was relativity small, the reclining Buddha was massive! It’s a long, golden statue that literally reclines as if say “Watcha doin?” Officially, the image of the reclining Buddha is meant to show Buddha just as he enters the state of Nirvana. But, to me it looked as if Buddha was in the relatable position of relaxing after a long day of work.
Overall, I wish that I had more time to explore Bangkok and see more of Thailand. I will definitely need to come back and continue my exploration of Buddhism but cherish the time I was able to spend exploring!
