Busy Intersection in Bangkok

Satisfied with the shots I’ve taken from the Golden Mount, I made my way down to where my tuk-tuk driver was waiting for me. To my consternation, I was unable to locate him. I went around the Golden Mount several times looking for the tuk-tuk driver but I couldn’t find him. One of the gates had a row of tuk-tuk drivers waiting for passengers but none of them look like my original tuk-tuk driver. They even asked what I was looking for and they said that my driver was gone.

Pedestrian Walkway

Thinking that it was just a trick by those tuk-tuk drivers to get me to hire them, I kept searching for my driver. After an hour of fruitless searchiing, I finally conceded, the driver was truly gone. i kept thinking that the driver won’t disappear just like that since I haven’t even paid him yet. But it was true, he was truly gone. Anyway, irritated that I got abandoned in the middle of nowhere, I walked past the tuk-tuk drivers and onto the main road and quickly hailed a cab. I asked the cab driver to bring me to the shopping district since I still need to shop for snack to bring back to the office.

This is Obviously A Little More Upmarket

The driver doesn’t speak much Engllish but was only pointing out landmarks along the way. I got to experience the infamous Bangkok traffic, but it was nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be. Probably because it was still before the lunch hour rush. The driver brought me to Siam Paragon, one of the large malls in this area. This was so convenient, I thought to myself, I should have taken a cab in the first place.

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View of Bangkok from the Golden Mount

The Golden Mount was a surprisingly interesting place to visit, if this was part of the scam these tuk-tuk drivers are trying to pull off, I’m glad I’m not feeling like I was being scammed. From the windows of the temple, you can see nice views of the city. Most of the city of Bangkok in this area is flat so you can easily see far away places. However, it seems that I missed a way to get to the roof when I passed by, luckily on my way out of the temple I noticed the stairs leading to the roof of the temple.

Golden Stupa on Top of the Golden Mount Temple

The roof itself was quite bare except for that golden stupa the roof which shines in the hot noontime sun. I tried walking around the stupa to get good views of the city but the floor was extremely hot and I had to hop, skip and jump my way around the stupa to get the views I wanted. Though the views weren’t spectacular I it was a nice change of scenery from the busy Bangkok streets I’m already used to.

Gold Leaf Encrusted Buddha Statue

When I went back down, I realized that I also missed one of the most important features of the temple. In the central portion of the temple is a highly venerated statue of Buddha. Like one of the statues here in the Golden Mount Temple, this one is also covered in layers of gold leaf. So much that its features are already distorted. I was fortunate enough to see this part of the temple. I thought this place was a great recommendation even though I had to drop by that jewelry factory, at least I still got photos to bring back with me.

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Row of Bells Halfway Up the Golden Mount

The Golden Mount is a temple on top of a small hill or mount where one can get sweeping views of the city. My tuk-tuk driver left me to explore the Golden Mount temple while he waits for me below. There is a spiral staircase that goes around the mount and up to the top giving visitors a 360 view of Bangkok from this area. It was a interesting place to build a temple and I thought they made proper use of the location.

All Sorts of Buddha Statues in the Golden Mount Temple

The temple doesn’t look much like a traditional temple but it has a lot of Buddha statues inside, and I guess to prove that this is not too much of a tourist trap, there are actual worshippers here and in fact very little foreingers. It is forbidden to use footwear in the temple premises but it was okay to just leave them outside. The temple was quite spacious considering that this was on top of a hill.

Disfigured Buddha Covered in Gold Leaf

You can see the great variety of Buddha statues here, some look brand new and some look quite old. There were the group of green Buddhas which I assume were carved from jade and a Buddha which was disfigured by layers of gold leaf plastered on it. This was the same fate of some Buddha statues which I saw in Myanmar. I wonder what makes that particular Buddha so special while the others do not get the gold leaf treatment.

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From the Black Buddha Temple, the driver told me the we will be making a detour to the jewelry export factory where I will be able to help him just by showing up. Since he seemed to be a nice guy and was honest enough to tell me that he will be getting a petrol coupon if he brings a touriist there, I, always willing to help someone out, agreed. The factory itself didn’t look like a factory but was more of a store front. It was along a small alley along the main road. The it looked decent enough.

My Tuk-tuk Driver

From the onset, I was already set on not purchasing anything from this place. Despite the best efforts of the salespeople, I held fast, I told them, no money means no money. I would have to admit that some of their stuff looked nice. I hung around the air conditioned place for 20 minutes before heading outside back to my tuk-tuk. I asked the driver whether he got his petrol coupon and he said yes, and he even thanked me for it. Satisfied, he then brought me to the Golden Mount which was not too far from the jewelry place.

The Golden Mount is simply a temple on a small hill in the middle of Bangkok. After dropping me off, the driver told me that he will be waiting for me right there. I then proceeded to work my way up the stairs of the Golden Mount.

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