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Bangkok - there is absolutely no other city like it in the world. Lively it is - and it is full of life...everywhere.

BANGKOK, THAILAND

Dave
2004-02-22 13:28:30

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is real gold ranging in purity from 96.5 to 99.99 percent pure. It is an extremely time consuming process to create gold foil that thin from the original gold bars. Once the gold reaches the stage where it is thin enough to be shipped to the Wats bamboo scissors are used to cut it into small square pieces. Regular scissors are not used because the gold foil sticks to the metal of the blades.

There are hundreds of wats in Bangkok. Some of the ones that I visited on my trips to Bangkok are listed below.

Wat Phra Chetuphon or also called by the name Wat Po is home to the reclining Buddha. This is the oldest and biggest temple in Bangkok - it is quite impressive and well worth your time to visit it. There are colorful temples, tall spires and ornate artwork everywhere! Upon close inspection you will find that the colorful buildings, spires and statutes are decorated with thousands of small pieces of colored glass. Colorful paint is liberally applied to many of the statues. When I visited this wat, the temple that houses the reclining Buddha was under construction. Scaffolding was everywhere, as a result it was quite difficult to get a good view of the entire reclining Buddha. This Buddha was created from concrete and bricks and is covered with a layer of real gold. The feet of the reclining Buddha are quite impressive - they are layered with mother of pearl.

Hundreds of murals on the walls were being painstakingly restored by patient individuals. While there I watched one of the workers work on a mural. It was almost painful to watch - his progress was excruciatingly slow but it was neat to see the restored work compared to the original. Estimated visit time 60 minutes.

Wat Arun, a smallish temple located on the western side of the Chao Praya River, is accessible via ferry boat from Wat Po directly across the river. There are many small local restaurants located ...