Bangkok 5 Wat Traimit (6/25/2012)

Monday, June 25, 2012
Today after breakfast, we checked out and waited for delivery of Kent's custom-made shirts. They did arrive, and they did fit!
We dragged our suitcases to the Metro station and went to the Hua Lamphong Railway Station. We checked the suitcases, and headed out into Chinatown:

Chinese gateways, and then this: colorful refurbished shophouses:

Marble ball being rolled by water action in front of a bank:

Breakfast of fried chicken for someone:

Wat Traimit:

Note the King's shrine on the first level.
Bell tower:

You must remove your shoes for every temple in Thailand:

Protected golden dragon:

The Golden Buddha:

KSS

The world's largest gold statue and the most valuable image in all Buddhism. For years this Buddha was hidden under a layer of  plaster, probably applied in the 18th-century when Siam/Thailand was raided by the Burmese. It wasn't until the 1950s when they were moving the Buddha to a new location, that they discovered what was underneath the plaster when the Buddha was dropped by a crane. (Didn't they notice how heavy it was?!)
Door painting and a Chinese vase:

Rooftop dragon:

Offering bowls lined up according to birth year:

Buddha sitting on Naga, the seven-headed snake:

A schoolyard next door:

Love those purple shirts!

Watch out! That mini-bus was being pushed backwards:

They did finally herd the kids out of the way as they then pushed the bus forward to jump-start it!
A monk waiting to dispense services:

Leaving Wat Traimit, we crossed Odeon Circle with its decorative gate:

Walking down Traimit Road, we passed all kinds of machine shops:

San Jao Sien Khong Shrine:

We had lunch at the River View Guest House:

View from the guest house restaurant terrace:

The restaurant terrace:

The rooftop shrine:

View of Chinatown rooftops:

After lunch we walked to the nearest Chao Phraya River ferry landing.
A Pycnonocus jocosus/Red-whiskered Bulbul:

Tree shrine:

The neighborhood generator?

A mountain of engine parts:

Time to board the commuter boat:

Commuting monk novices:

Chee Chin Khor Temple:

This little tugboat:

was pulling three barges:

Memorial Bridge again:

Santa Cruz Church:

Established in 1770 by the Portuguese.

Wat Kalayanamit:

Wichai Prasit Fort:

A colorful longtail boat:

The boat's engine is on the end of a long pole.
Wat Arun:

We passed through a market after disembarking the boat:

We think these are figs.
Lunchtime for others:

Go to Bangkok 6 for the last of the Bangkok posts!