Reclining Buddha

Not long after getting into Bangkok, I kept hearing that I had to see the reclining Buddha. Everyone who mentioned this didn't really say what was so incredible about it, but they were very persuasive. On my last Saturday in Bangkok, I went with a couple of colleagues.

Near to the former palace of the king is a massive structure built to house the Reclining Buddha. It must be at least 100 feet long and around 15-20 feet high. The building is not much bigger, so you're pretty close to it, making it seem even larger. (It also makes for lousy photo opportunities.)

While I was admiring the statue, I kept hearing small bells or chimes, and I wondered what it was. Along the Buddha's backside, there was a long line of small, metal buckets for donations. You paid 20 baht to get coins to place in each bucket.

One of my colleagues said that during World War II, the Buddha was plastered over to hide it from the Japanese soldiers. It worked.