Arun Wat – Temple of Dawn
This was our last stop of the day. It wasn’t easy as I thought. The Internet says just cross the river via a boat but its not as simple as that. Right at the corner of the Palace (At the exit, take left to the end) is Tha Chang Pier. None ferry across the river at this station but from Wang Lang Pier which is right outside Wat Phra temple. So I decided to take a ferry to Wang Lang pier and to our horror they were crowded enough not to let anyone out of the boat. Most of the piers are non friendly to the baby strollers. After cursing myself for that decision, managed to get to Wat Arun by catching another ferry which was way better than the first.
Arun Wat temple is quite unique and the very presence of the river bank makes it even more special. Colorful LED lights lit the area even better in the evenings. When we went we had just enough time to go the towers which were steep and slightly risky. Shortly after sky opened up and poured for a good one hour.
Again, am going to quote the Tamil name of the God here. Its got Aruna Bhagavan who is responsible for the weather.
This temple has 4 small towers and the main one is roughly 80 meters high. This temple follows Khmer architecture. Built by King Taksin 18th century (1768) and King Rama II restored this temple; even today this is the tallest temple in Thailand. Emerald buddha statue was originally here and later moved across the river which is in Palace grounds these days.
Opening Hours: 08:00 AM – 5:30 PM
Admission Fee: 50 baht
Asiatique The Riverfront
We should have called it a day. But my never-tired(??!!) legs wanted more for the day. When the rain stopped, we tried to get a taxi to Asiatique or to the hotel. But finding a taxi at the side of the river (Wat Arun side) wasn’t easy at all. After a painful 30 minutes, I decided to take the uneasy way to cross the river and get the boat to the asiatique as the direction is clear and my homework using google map. At Wang Lang Pier, after 30 minutes of waiting, we got a boat and this was extremely packed. I smiled and thought it will be for a very short trip without knowing I was so wrong. After numerous stops and a lung full of half burnt fuel smell we got dropped at Takshin Bridge terminal and was asked to catch another Asiatique Ferry which is free and the queue was at least for 5 ferries. Luckily with the kids, we managed to board the first ferry.
Asiatique is a huge shopping area at the Chao Phraya river bank and comes alive in the evening with the 100s of options to engage visitors. We had our dinner in an Indian Restaurant and bought some really good artifacts. This mall has a pre-paid taxi system to our destinations which save all the haggles.
And that’s the of Bangkok from my eyes in 4 days.
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