Page 73 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Bangkok

Old City ❮❮ 71

famous kings, or even tigers’ teeth A STROLL THROUGH THE OLD CITY
worn as pen dants can provide
protection from misfortune. It is, Sanam Bamrung
therefore, quite common to see Amulet Luang Muang Road
Market
people wearing a string of such S&P Wat Saket,
Golden
amulets around the neck, and some Restaurant Krisa Coffee Shop Mount
even become ardent collectors of Mahathat Lak Muang
amulets. One of the best places Rd
Silpakorn
to see this faith demonstrated is University Art
in the Amulet Market on the streets Exhibition Hall Sanam Wat Soi Ban
Chai
Baat
around Wat Mahathat, where poten­ Wat Phra Suthat Sao
Ching Cha
Kaeo
tial buyers will carefully scrutinize
the tiny objects with magnifying MORNING
glasses and quiz the vendor to
ascertain the amulet’s properties. Begin your exploration of the Old
City at Wat Saket, where you can
climb the Golden Mount to enjoy
a wonderful, panoramic view of
the area. From here walk south
along Boriphat Road until you
reach Soi Ban Baat, where alms
bowls are beaten out of strips of
metal. Go back up Boriphat Road,
then left into Bamrung Muang
Road (see p72) where shops sell
Buddha images and temple
paraphernalia. When you reach
the unmissable Sao Ching Cha,
turn into Wat Suthat and appre­
ciate the superb carvings and
paintings on display. Continue
over the Klong and turn right onto
Sanam Chai for the lush green
lawns of Sanam Luang (see p69).
For lunch, follow the road at the
southern end of the park to a row
of charming 19th­century shops
and the Krisa Coffee Shop (see
Traditional art at Wat Suthat p75), serving tasty Thai dishes.
Wat Suthat
0 AFTERNOON
MAP D4 • 146 Bamrung
Muang Road • 02 224 9845 • After lunch, head east again,
between Sanam Luang and the
Open 8:30am–9pm daily • Adm walls around Wat Phra Kaeo (see
Begun in 1807 by Rama I (r.1782– pp12–15). Straight ahead stands
1807) and completed by his the Lak Muang (see p69) shrine
successors, Wat Suthat is one of where you can watch sup plicants
Bangkok’s most important temples. making offerings and praying.
Fronted by the towering Sao Ching Wander west again between
Cha, a giant swing that was once Sanam Luang and Wat Phra Kaeo
(see p69), to admire paintings
used for a Brahmin ceremony, the at the Silpakorn University Art
compound has the tallest wihan Exhibition Hall (see p73). Buy a
in the city, especially constructed lucky charm at the fascinating
to accom modate the Phra Sri Amulet Market or in the small
Sakyamuni Buddha, a 26­ft (8­m) tall lanes off it. Have a cool drink at
14th­century Sukhothai image. The S&P Restaurant (see p75) at the
murals in the wihan are beau tifully river side pier to round off your
detailed, and the temple grounds day’s wander in the Old City.
include four lovely bronze horses.
See map on p68
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