Exploring Bangkok

My buddy James has gone back to the States now. I hope he'll put some photos and his thoughts about Thailand up on his blog soon! In the meantime, I'll share some of the stuff we did for our few days in Bangkok. Chronologically this post should go back before Kanchanaburi, but since most of this is stuff I've done before, I just wanted to finish up the week with a few photos from around the city.

On his first day in Bangkok, instead of dealing with the chaos of the Grand Palace, we visited the much smaller, more peaceful, and almost unknown Suan Pakkad Palace near my apartment. It's one of my favorite new discoveries in Bangkok!

several hundred year-old building at the palace

We took the river taxi down the klong (canal) from near where I live to Old Town. Taking the riverboat is an experience in and of itself.

waiting for the river taxi

The Golden Mount isn't as famous as some other temples like Wat Pho or Wat Arun, but everyone who visits it seems to love it. Of all the stuff we did in Bangkok last year, this was the place specifically that James wanted to go to again. It is definitely one of my favorite places in Bangkok!

view from the top

Besides just being a cool and iconic temple landmark, climbing the Golden Mount is an experience! As you wind your way up the leafy path, you can ring prayer bells. Of course, we stopped halfway up at Golden Mount Cafe for a Thai tea!

ringing the prayer gong

No matter what your beliefs, the Golden Mount feels like a spiritual place. And it's quite unlike any other temple in Bangkok, or that I've yet to see anywhere in the world!

at the top

We also stopped by the nearby Loha Prasat (The Iron Palace Temple). It's been under construction and renovation since my first year here, when the iron roofs were painted black. It used to be colloquially known as the "Black Temple", though I guess that doesn't work anymore. I was skeptical about the change from iconic black to gold roofs, but I have to admit, it looks pretty good! This was my first time to see the temple all in gold.

Loha Prasat

We were there right before New Year, and it seemed a lot of people were out making merit.

After living here a few years and falling into a work and life routine, sometimes I forget how beautiful this city can be. It's nice to have a visitor and get to explore a bit to be reminded. Now, I'm looking forward to another special visit in a few weeks! More on that later.

donations at the temple