First blog entry: Must-see Bangkok Temples (Day 1)

It's the year 2014! How time indeed flies too fast.

I still vividly remember back in March 2012, I was in one of my flights to Cebu for a work-related trip. I read an article in the in-flight magazine of Cebu Pacific, Smile, which featured two empowered women who left their corporate jobs, embarked on a 6-month trip to South East Asia, and set up the now well-known blog, We are Sole Sisters. I knew I always wanted to see the world, but reading the article inspired me to make travel happen for real. Few months later, I invited my friend to join me for a trip to Bangkok. So here I am, after encouragement and support from some of my friends, finally sharing my first travel diary to other fun-loving and adventurous travel enthusiasts out there!

Thailand has always been one of the countries in my travel bucket list. Apart from my love for Thai food, I dreamed of visiting the Buddhist temples and to witness how the Thais worship. After reading a number of guides from helpful travel bloggers, I originally came up with a one-day itinerary which included the 4 must-see temples in Bangkok. Our first stop should have been the Grand Palace, which houses the Temple of Emerald Buddha.However, upon arrival, it was announced that the palace was closed because of an official event. We decided to just then visit the Temple of the Reclining Buddha, Temple of Dawn and Temple of the Golden Mount for the day.

First stop: Temple of the Reclining Buddha (Wat Pho)
Entrance fee: ฿100

How to get there: Since our hostel was very near BTS-Nana station, we took the trains to get to the Chao Phraya Express Boat by following Solitary Wanderer's suggestion. We first took the Sukhumvit line from Nana station going to Siam station, then interchanged  to Silom line. From there, we got off to Saphan Taksin station. We took the 'Exit 2' and walked straight until we found the Central Pier. Since we knew we were going around town the whole day, we bought the One Day River pass which allowed us unlimited access to the Chao Phraya Express boat ride.

Here's the Bangkok BTS map which we used  to avoid getting lost! Haha!

BTS Transit Map

A view of hotels and buildings from the Chao Phraya Express Boat

We alighted at the N8 pier station to get to the Temple of the Reclining Buddha. There were a lot of tourists when we arrived, but we still found the temple to be magnificent and peaceful. 

Temple of the Reclining Buddha entrance

Isn't the Buddha majestic?

That's me striking a pose! ;)

Make time to check out the temple grounds since it offers very colorful stupas as well.

Second stop: Temple of Dawn (Wat Arun)
Entrance fee: ฿50

How to get there:  The Temple of Dawn is just across the river of the Temple of the Reclining Buddha. We bought a ferry ticket also at N8 pier station to get to the other side. The fare was not included in the unlimited access, so we paid around additional ฿5.

Grand Yaksha guardians, as they call it,  greeted us upon arrival at the temple.

Breathtaking view of the temple from our boat

We just enjoyed the sight of the temple from the ground. I guess looking at how steep it was, we were just a little scared to climb one of Bangkok's highest temples. ;)

We took a quick break at the temple's cafe before heading back to N8 pier station.

Third stop: Temple of the Golden Mount (Wat Saket)

Entrance fee: Free. Donations are accepted.

How to get there:  From the N8 pier station, we rode a tuktuk since the temple wasn't accessible by ferry. This was a perfect time to have our first tuktuk ride! When in Bangkok, always haggle. The driver initially charged us ฿200, but we managed to lower the fare to ฿100  because of our haggling skills! ;)

Staring at temple felt like I was in a different era. I was in complete awe of its structure.

This was taken inside the temple. It had no roof so I got to enjoy both the beauty of the sky and the temple.

The temple had very few tourists during the time we went. We stayed a little longer at the temple's park. We surely loved its serenity and calmness.

After a memorable experience, we were definitely looking forward to visiting Grand Palace the next day.

Still fascinated with Bangkok,
Gladys