Daily Report: Temples, Museum, and Mountain

Today it was off to Wat Yansangwararam, Pattaya's most important temple complex, and the only temple in the area under royal patronage. The temple is dedicated to one of Thailand's former top monks, Somdej Phra Yansangworn, and commemorates King Naresuan the Great (17th century), and King Taksin (18th century), both of whom liberated Thailand from Burmese control.

The temple complex is quite nice and well-kept, and consists of over two dozen temples from tiny little structures to the massive and towering main temple itself. There are lots of different architectural styles from around the Buddhist world: Khmer, Burmese, Lao, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, and of course, traditional Thai and modern Thai. There is also a temple up on top of a very tall hill for those of you looking to get a workout while you worship.

There are also shrines to King Rama VII and his wife, a wax museum of 20 of Thailand's most important monks, a reproduction of Buddha's footprint, some lovely gardens, playground, lakes, and some wildlife.

When you visit the temples, make sure you dress properly. That means primarily no bare shoulders (tank tops) and no legs bare knees (too-short shorts or skirts). Epril had to borrow a shirt (on offer at the entrance to each temple in exchange for a small donation) for each temple we went into. Be aware that photos are not allowed inside of most temples either.

The temple area was very nice to visit, but unfortunately the only English you will see are those signs telling you to stay off the grass, or not to take photos. All of the information regarding the temples, their contents, or their stories, is written in Thai... which I personally think is done on purpose: This place really isn't a tourist attraction, and is a place of worship built for and by Thai people. Visitors coming to gawk and giggle are tolerated, but not much more. Admission is free.



After Wat Yansangwararam, we went around the large nearby lake to Anek Kusala Sala, also known as Viharnra Sien, which is a large museum built by Thailand's Chinese community. It houses all manner of Chinese artifacts, religious icons, and ojects d'art from the modern to the ancient. I am happy to say that for the first time, I attended a tourist attraction in the vicinity of Pattaya that charges the same price for brown skinned people and white skinned people: 50 baht per head.

There is a vast collection of bronze statuary contained on the three floors of the massive structure, a fine collection of Han dynasty sculptures, and some rather nice replicas of the famous terra cotta warrior statues as found in the tomb of Emperor Chin. Also, there is a white jade carving of Guan Im which is roughly the same size as the Emerald Buddha in Bangkok.

On the second floor is an open-air promenade with a collection of statues of Shaolin monks in various martial arts poses, two buildings holding a collection of Thai craftsmanship, including some really gorgeous wood carvings and antique puppets. The third floor houses a Buddhist shrine, and gives a very nice view out over the surrounding fields, back to the temples across the lake, and over to nearby Buddha mountain.
After finishing with the museum (my only complaint being that you have to go through the place barefoot, which is slightly uncomfortable on the arches), we had a bite to eat at a streetside food vendor, and then drove another 3 miles or so down the road to Buddha Mountain (also known as Khao Chee Chan)... the largest image of Buddha on earth. It is 130 meters tall and 70 meters wide, and has been inlaid with $5 million in gold. It was constructed to celebrate the King of Thailand's 50th anniversary on the throne.

After the walk through the museum, everyone in the car was really a bit too tired to get out and walk, but having visited before, I can say that the grounds at the foot of the mountain are quite pleasant, with a large system of waterfalls and fountains with pleasant gardens and topiaries. Admission to the grounds is free, and is a nice enough addition to a visit to the temples and museum, but not enough of an attraction to warrant it's own separate trip.



This set of three sites really comprises one of Pattaya's nicest tourist attractions... second only to Nong Nooch Tropical Gardens a few miles further down Sukhimvit Road. To find Wat Yansangwararam, Anek Kusala Sala, and Khao Chee Chan, you drive south from Pattaya on Sukhumvit Road, past the Ambassador Hotel. After another one or two traffic lights, start keeping an eye out for signs on the left side of the road, and make a left turn when you see the sign that reads "Wat Yansangwararam" and drive back from the highway about 3 or 4 miles to arrive at the temple complex.