Recently, my friend Wind invited our friend Kat and me to go with him on a day trip to Nakhon Pathom, his home province, which lies just west of Bangkok.
Kat and I met up at Chatuchak Park MRT Station early on a Saturday morning and took the metro about 45 minutes out of town to the end of the Purple Line, where Wind was waiting to pick us up in his car.
Today, the chedi is surrounded by a huge, vibrant market full of lots and lots of incredible snacks and food.
The chedi is one of the kingdom's major historical and religious sites and is very popular as a pilgrimage site with people from all around Thailand and throughout the Buddhist world.
Khao moo krob moo daeng is one of my favorite hearty Thai street food dishes. It consists of a plate of rice served with moo krob (crispy fried pork belly) and moo daeng (red barbecued pork) covered in a sweet gravy flavored with Chinese five-spice and typically served with a stewed egg and slices of cucumber. I'm a big fan of this dish, but this was one of the best I've ever had!
After lunch, we drove on to Kawa, a cafe and hostel located on a beautiful canal. Even though we were close to Bangkok, it was quiet and peaceful here, and it really felt like we were out of the country.
I've been thinking a lot lately about getting a car. I never really thought I'd need one, and truthfully, even after more than a decade living in Bangkok, I can get around just fine without one. However, it would be nice to be able to get out of the city more easily, and there are so many hidden gems around Bangkok that aren't easy to get to without driving.
Phutthamonthon is a vast Buddhist park and pilgrimage site west of Bangkok, created in 1957 to honor the 2,500th anniversary of the Buddha’s enlightenment. The park is an expansive, serene space featuring landscaped gardens, quiet walking paths, and several important religious monuments.
At its center stands a towering bronze Buddha statue surrounded by a circular plaza used for ceremonies and meditation.
One significant building at Putthamonthon is the Marble Viharn, a temple-like building made from marble and roofed in dark blue tiles.
The inside of the viharn is opulent, the roofs are painted in red and gold and the upper parts of the walls contain stunning murals depicting stories from the life of the Buddha.
Nakhon Pathom is said to be the place in Thailand where Buddhism was first introduced to the kingdom, brought by missionaries from Sri Lanka sometime in the 6th century.
An ancient chedi was constructed on the site, though it eventually fell into ruin. A new chedi was later built over the original, and the third, and current, structure was constructed on top of the second in the 1850s under the orders of King Mongkut (Rama IV), who had discovered the decaying temple in the 1830s while he was still a prince of Siam.
The renovations took nearly twenty years to complete. Two new canals were dug to make travel by boat between Bangkok and Nakhon Pathom easier. Although King Rama IV did not live to see his grand project finished, his son, King Chulalongkorn (Rama V), fulfilled his vision by adding belfries and importing golden tiles from China to complete the outer layer of the grand stupa.
We left the temple and walked to the nearby Nai Chua Roasted Pork, and old and very famous shop inside the local market.
I've been thinking a lot lately about getting a car. I never really thought I'd need one, and truthfully, even after more than a decade living in Bangkok, I can get around just fine without one. However, it would be nice to be able to get out of the city more easily, and there are so many hidden gems around Bangkok that aren't easy to get to without driving.
After a break for coffee and a game of Exploding Kittens, we got back in the car and headed on our way to our next destination.
At its center stands a towering bronze Buddha statue surrounded by a circular plaza used for ceremonies and meditation.
The towering statue was designed by none other than Mr. Corrado Feroci AKA Professor Silpa Bhirasri, an Italian who nationalized as a Thai citizen after the Second World War and who is considered to be the Father of Thai Modern Art. He designed many of the kingdom's most famous monuments including Democracy Monument, Independence Monument, and the statue of King Rama VI at Lumphini Park.
Contained within are 1,418 large marble stelas, tablets embossed in golden lettering which contain the entire Buddhist canon written out in Pali Sanskrit, the liturgical language of Theravada Buddhism.
At the center of the marble hall is a domed room with a marble statue of a seated monk in the center. I tried to learn more about who was depicted but unfortunately wasn't able to find any results in English.
The interior of the dome, too, depicts what appears to be the same seated monk surrounded by Buddhist imagery.
We continued our walk through the sprawling park, passing the official residence of the Sangharaja (Supreme Patriarch of Thailand), the chief and most senior monk of the Thai Sangha. The residence was dark and empty when we passed. The current Supreme Patriarch is 98 years old and does not travel much anymore. Nowadays, he spends most of his time at a temple in Bangkok.
The large Buddha statue looks even more magnificent at night when it's lit up so that it appears to glow.
As night fell, we returned to the car and Wind drove us to a local Issan restaurant near his house for dinner.
We ate somtam, fried pork intestines with chili sauce (which I liked in spite of myself), pork rib soup (which was incredible), and sticky rice.
After dinner, Wind dropped me and Kat off back at the MRT station, and we rode together back to Bangkok. It had been a long day, but super fun. It's been nice getting out of the city more often recently. I've been trying to be more active, and having a friend who owns a car definitely helps with that.
Wind and Kat have become very good friends in a short time, and it's been really nice hanging out with them and exploring Thailand together recently.
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