World's largest Golden Buddha

The last place we really wanted to see in Bangkok (I mean, the last place of our minimum of the minimum list, since we already saw the Grand Palace, Wat Pho and cruised the canals) was the China Town. And, in particular, Wat Traimit, aka the Temple of Golden Buddha.

A quick look at the map suggested that we should take off at either stop no. 4 or 5 of the water tram. There was hardly any difference in distance (as the map suggested). We decided to hop off at one of these stops and, later, hop on at the other. That way, we wouldn't have to walk the same way twice. Always a plus and more to see.

When our cruise down the canals ended (at stop no. 8, right next to Wat Pho, in case you were wondering), it started raining. And quite heavily. But by the time we were done with our lunch and back on the boat, it was already sunny.

The most important and most famous thing in the complex is the image of Golden Buddha. But not just any image. It's the world's largest image of Golden Buddha. It's 4 metres high and is made of 5 tonnes of 18 carat gold! That's a lot of jewellery you could make of it ;) It was made in 13th century in Sukhothai. In Traimit for twenty years it was covered with plaster shield and only in 1955, by a sheer accident (it fell off a crane during transportation and of the plaster cover got damaged), it was discovered that it was made of gold.

The figure is impressive. Huge. In order to enter the temple, you have to be properly dressed, of course. If you're not, you can rent (or be made to rent) some overalls.

Apart from seeing the insides with the Golden Buddha image (but not just that. And it's almost all covered with gold and crystals), it's also worth to have a look around the neighbourhood. In order to get into the temple, you have to climb a looot of stairs, so that makes it a good viewpoint.

Once we were done seeing everything around, we walked by the many food stands (all looked so delicious!) on our way to the pier. We hopped on the water tram, got to our hostel just in time to pick our backpacks and head to Khao San Road. We grabbed something to eat, something more to take with us on the way and boarded a night bus that took us to our next destination, away from the big city rush. 

Is there anything else you could recommend seeing or doing in Bangkok? Do you visit temples during your travels?