wat phra kaeo is pretty cool. it’s the temple, or wat, located next to the grand palace. it’s also known as the temple of the emerald buddha. everything is gleaming, shiny gold and bursting with color.
i’m a little bummed that we didn’t hire a guide to explain all of the details of the temple, but we made up for it by sneaking into other people’s hired tours. . .
first steps into wat phra kaeo
temple skylinethere are demons everywhere, but these are the good ones that protect the temple.
protector demons
close-up of demon’s face
gigantic protector demon at a gate
oddly, there’s a model of angkor wat on one of the temple terraces. . .
in the halls that wrap around the temple grounds, there are painted panels of the ramayana, or ramakien as it’s called in thailand. the story comes to life in 182 (i think. again, we were eavesdropping) panels.
after all of this exploring, we finally make it to the emerald buddha. we removed our shoes and placed them on the racks and made our way inside:
detail of a pillar outside of the temple of the emerald buddha
underside of the temple roof
finally, the emerald buddhamore pics of wat phra kaeo and bangkok posted on flickr.
