Third Stop: Wat Pho
Upon alighting the boat and going towards the market again, our tour guide had us cross the street (something to get used to in Asia, some streets have no crossing signs, just eyeball the incoming cars and cross when safe) and enter the Wat Pho temple.
Sam did a brief tour storytelling of what the temple is, and it having the largest collection of Buddha images in Thailand. After around 5 or so minutes, he led us to the entrance of the temple where the main Buddha statue was in. And it being a place of religious reverence, we had to take off our shoes. Thankfully, outside the facility was some green reusable cloth bags where we could put our shoes in and just carry them in the temple. No missing shoe worry here.
The inside of the temple was impressive. You had to be careful though. It’s essentially a moving line moving south to north, go across the side of the statue’s feet, then back to the entrance – basically a big U-shaped line. There’s certain sections for photographs and line reprieves, so if you want to take pictures, there’s the spots.
The indoor nature of the main attraction certainly helped with tourists, as the tour here felt much calmer. No one’s agitated, no one’s in a hurry that much, and no one’s worried about missing footwear. Sun’s not bearing down on us as well, as it was nearing 4PM and the sun’s going down in a few hours.
I’m a sucker for “good luck” things, so I also did the coin offering as well. Did my best to drop a coin in every pot, and before leaving, I took a deep breath in, and gathered any positive thing or feeling I can outbof the holy place. Even if I belong to a different religion, I have immense respect for other religions and their places of worship. For me, these places are testaments to the strength of human faith and belief. So when I come into these places, I try my best to be a genial guest and respect whatever rule they have in place, be it formal or informal.
After donning our shoes back on, we waited for the rest of the group to finish their looking around. Sam then gathered us for a final bladder check near the restrooms near the temple. While we waited for the others, I casually mentioned to Sam that tomorrow I booked another trip with the same tour company he was in, and it will be for Ayutthaya. He winced. Man, second warning sign. He told me I should be prepared for the heat again.
After everyone finished their thing, we went back on the bus for a final travel back to our starting point: Centralworld mall. And after a few “for the insurance” group photo snaps, we were now separate tourists again. I waved goodbye to some of the people I met, thanked Sam for taking care of us, and walked off to the nearest BTS line.
Time for my extra leg of the day – Bangkok Chinatown.
Water bottle count: 5
Briathrail // Albert 2MNG 
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