Saturday, November 15, 2025
A full day in Bangkok – Wat Pho

Breakfast

Before I head out to see temples in Bangkok, it’s time for breakfast at the hotel. The hotel in which I am staying used to be the Novotel Phloen Chit (the Novotel Hotel in the Phloen Chit district of Bangkok). I had come to like this hotel because it is very affordable for a 4 or 5-star hotel, and it is right by a stop on the BTS Skytrain, making transportation simple. Two years ago, I made my reservation at the Novotel Phloen Chit website, and when I arrived, the sign had changed to Four Points by Sheraton. Thankfully, nothing inside had changed. They had my reservation, and everything seemed much the same as before, including the very extensive breakfast buffet.

Here is my breakfast, and me at breakfast looking very serious as I fumble with using my watch to take a photo on my phone.

Wat Arun or Wat Pho

My intent was to take the BTS Skytrain to the Saphan Taksin stop by the river, buy a ticket for the boat to Wat Arun, visit Wat Arun, then take the ferry across the river to Wat Pho. In past years, the boats did not stop at both Wat Arun and Wat Pho – you took the boat to one, then the ferry to the other. When the announcement on the boat came that the next stop was Wat Pho, I got off, thinking I would take the ferry across the river to Wat Arun. However, this stop was different than before and there was no ferry here. The walk to Wat Pho was quite a bit longer, and I came to realize that this boat stops at this new Wat Pho stop and then goes across the river to Wat Arun. So I went to Wat Pho and contemplated what I would do.

Wat Pho

Wat Pho is known as the Temple of the Reclining Buddha; its official name is Wat Phra Chetuphon Wimon Mangkhalaram Rajwaramahawihan (try to say that quickly). The common name Wat Pho is a contraction of its older name, Wat Photaram.

There are about 30,000 active Buddhist temples in Thailand. Of those, only six are classified as Royal Temples of the First Class, and Wat Pho is first on that list. The temple is associated with King Rama I (the current king is King Rama X), who rebuilt the temple complex on an earlier site. It became his main temple and is where some of his ashes are enshrined. The Wat Pho temple complex houses the largest collection of Buddha images in Thailand, including a 46-meter-long (151-feet) reclining Buddha.

Being Saturday and at the start of the high tourist season in Thailand, there were many, many, many tourists at Wat Pho. Here I am at one of the gates with the wise old men on either side.

I got in the long line of people to see the great reclining Buddha. Everyone is polite and patient about allowing turns for taking photos from the few photo spots. Here is a photo of the Buddha’s head, and then one of me showing much of the Buddha’s body.

Outside the pavilion, I got a photo of me striking the gong. These gongs are mostly black and seldom decorated. All of the gongs at temples in Thailand are made in a few dozen shops along highway 2222 running 33 kilometers east from outside Ubon Ratchathani to Khong Chiam overlooking the Mekong River and Laos. This is known as the “Gong Highway,” and most of the shops there have been making gongs for generations.

Thai Massage and Wat Pho

Wat Pho is also known as the birthplace of traditional Thai Massage. Thai massage is a therapeutic practice that combines acupressure and assisted yoga postures, almost as if they place you into yoga postures and do the stretching for you. Thai massage is done fully clothed and involves the use of broad and focused acupressure along energy lines called sen, along with stretching, pulling, and rocking of the body. Thai Massage is still taught and practiced at Wat Pho. I have been told over the years that the very best Thai Massage schools are located in Chiang Mai.

Due to the connection between yoga and Thai massage, around the grounds of Wat Pho are statues of men in what appear to be yoga positions. Here are a few of them:

Wat Pho is a large temple complex with many structures, statues, and pagodas (chedi in Thai). Most of the chedis at Wat Pho are ornately decorated.

And there was this smaller chedi off by itself simply decorated with a flower wreath.

Skipping Wat Arun

Because of the large number of tourists and the challenge of negotiating to find the ferry to Wat Arun, I decided to skip visiting Wat Arun this year. I wanted to see a temple known as the Iron Temple, and have another visit to the Marble Temple, which I have not seen for at least ten years. At one of the less busy exits, I saw a group of tuk-tuks and went over. Knowing that the area in which these temples are located has very dense and difficult traffic, I negotiated with a gentleman who oversaw the drivers. We agreed to 800 baht ($25) for a driver to take me to the two temples, wait at each, then take me to the nearest BTS Skytrain stop. Given that the whole trip would take close to two hours, it seemed like a good deal, so off we went.

Next: One Day in Bangkok – 2 Wat Ratchanatdaram (The Iron Temple)