Golden Triangle of Temples

Next on my visit list, the Golden Triangle of Temples!

There are many temples located in the Rattanakosin Island, and the 3 most visited temples are the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew, Wat Pho, and Wat Arun. Many tourists mark these 3 temples as the "must-go" for their trip to Bangkok, but bear in mind that there are a lot of scams happening here, which the most common scams are the smiling Buddha scam as well as the Grand Palace closure scam. Beware of those!

Coming into Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew, both of these are co-located with each other and we would need to purchase ticket to enter. Back in 2011 it was not so expensive, which was about 350THB, inclusive of the entrance of Grand Palace, Wat Phra Kaew as well as Vimanmek Mansion. There could be another way of entering the temple, via the side gate at the East side of the temple. Side gate is mainly open for the locals to get in to pray, and it would be free of charge to them. You may try to go in from this gate at your own risk, only if you look like a local. Personally I tried once, when I went with my local friends during the Visakha Bucha day, where the guards were not so stringent on that special Buddhism festival.

The Yaksha, or the guardian demon guarding all the entrances of the temple

Wat Phra Kaew, the Emerald Buddha temple, which we can worship the Emerald Buddha in the Ubosoth, the main building. Remember to keep silent and not to point our feet towards the Buddha, to be respectful to the Buddha.

Coming out from the Ubosoth, we should wander around for the long wall painting which tells the Thai murals.

Architectures here are not something you should miss!

Moving on to Grand Palace, which is just adjacent to the Wat Phra Kaew. This place is the former residence of the King, and now the King makes use of this palace for the ceremonial functions.

Second stop, Wat Pho. This temple is located just a walking distance away from the Wat Phra Kaew. Entrance fee was about 50THB. Wat Pho is famous for the Reclining Buddha, which is located in the Ubosoth.

Wat Pho is said to be first public university of Thailand as well, teaching traditional Thai medicine and Thai massage.

There are a lot of chedis within the large compound of Wat Pho. The bigger sized chedis contain the ashes of Buddha while the smaller sized chedis contain the ashes of the royal families.

While we were walking from Wat Phra Kaew towards Wat Pho, we would have noticed the big temple across the river of Chao Phraya. That would be the third destination for the trip to Golden Triangle of Temples, the Wat Arun. After visiting Wat Pho, head to the Tha Thien Pier and take a boat cruise to Wat Arun. It was about 7THB per trip for a short boat trip across the river to Wat Arun.

Wat Arun, the Temple of Dawn, is one of the best known landmarks of Thailand.

The steps to go up the Ubosoth are extremely steep, so we need to be really careful when climbing.

On the top of the Ubosoth, we are able to have great view over the Rattanakosin Island, which we can see the Wat Phra Kaew and Wat Pho we had visited earlier.

I could not make it to catch the first light of the day at Temple of Dawn, but I managed to capture the sunset.

So this marked the end for the trip for Golden Triangle of Temples in Bangkok. There are thousands of temples in Bangkok area but these temples are not to be missed!