Wat Saket And Up The Golden Mount In Bangkok

One of the most iconic Buddhist temples and holy complexes in Bangkok is Wat Sakat and its impressive rock outcropping, mount that is topped with a giant golden stupa. A bit of an easy landmark as the stupa can be seen from large swaths of the city.

Expansive. Atop the mount, the big stupa, so large one can't fit all of it in the frame. OK, or choose to. Creative license. It's a nice view and a green, green roof.

From below, if you're standing in the right place near a tropical grotto, the Wat and mount look dreamy. Not so dreamy, a detail from a mural inside the temple, an endless procession of death and torture if you stray. Best to obey.

Finding room for a solitary moment of worship next to a renovation.

Holy details. Waxy monk figurines and Buddha statue, all slender in the hands.

Vultures gotta eat. A diorama, illustrating when cholera broke out in the 1820s and bodies were brought so quickly to the temple that there wasn't time for burial. Voilà, bird food.

Wat Saket And Phu Khao Thong

One of the landmarks of Bangkok is an artificial hill with a Buddhist temple. The hill is Phu Khao Thong, which can be found within the Wat Saket Buddhist complex.

The gleaming golden Chedi on the hill.

The artificial angle is present, despite various efforts to make the hill appear "natural." A fake rock retaining wall. Gold leaf Buddha in a Wat at the bottom of the hill.

Offering to the ants, a Buddhist Happy Meal.

Plastic, big-eared beast. Buddha in the brush.

Bagged Buddha.

Alas, the main Chedi wasn't open, due to the Thai King's coronation.