Thursday, January 8, 2015

Day 4: The Grand Palace and Temples Visits: Must-See in Bangkok

"Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment."
                                                                                                                    ~ Buddha Quote

It seemed like it rained all night when I stepped out at the balcony of my hotel room which made the weather really auspicious for the SMART team to visit the most attractive touristy of Bangkok. At 8:00 am in the morning, we departed to visit the “The Grand Palace in Bangkok”.  People believe that it is a must-see sight in Bangkok and if you do not visit it then your trip to Bangkok is incomplete. Keytapark (Wood) Virat, HR Officer at CP Intertrade, guided us throughout the trip and offered great insight into the Thai culture.

                                   Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha)                                        From left to right: Margaret Lynch, Samantha Yellen, Maria Jose, Adriana Arango and Maira Zamir


One of the Monasteries in The Grand PalaceFrom left to right: Margaret Lynch, Samantha Yellen, Maria Jose, Maira Zamir and Adriana Arango 



Built in 1782, The Grand Palace remained a home of Thai King for more than 150 years and also remained the Royal court and the administrative seat of government. Today, the palace remains the spiritual heart of the Thai Kingdom. The complex constitutes of multiple buildings that attract many tourists. One of these buildings is the Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha), which is the home of very famous and greatly revered Emerald Buddha that dates back to the 14th century.

We followed a proper dress code to enter the Wat Phra Kaew Temple as Thai consider it as the most sacred place. We were amazed to see the architect of the buildings. The temple communicates the history and culture of Thailand in a very exquisite way. The walls of the buildings show paintings and sketches of Thai Monarchy and depict the religious history of Thai people. 

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After the Grand Palace and Temple of Emerald Buddha visit, we went to visit another very famous Buddhist temple "Wat Pho" in the Phra Nakhon District of Bangkok. It is also known as the "Temple of the Reclining Buddha". It is directly adjacent to the Grand Palace. It is one of the largest temples in the city of Bangkok and attract many tourists because of the posture of the Buddha. The Wat Pho Buddha is 15 meters tall and 46 meters long and is covered in gold leaf. 


                                           Wat Pho (Temple of the Reclining Buddha)
From left to right: Margaret Lynch, Maria Jose, Samantha Yellen and Maira Zamir



Dropping the small pennies in the ports present in the complex makes a very attractive ringing sound and people here believe that doing this can make your wishes true. This money is used to help maintain the temple. The rest of the temple is also worth visiting because of the attractive architect. We ended the trip with a very nice lunch at a local Thai restaurant. 

The team returned to the CP Intertrade office following lunch to continue research and writing. 


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