This morning we met our guide, Maha, for a Wat-a-polooza tour (a.k.a. a temple tour). We saw four different Wats, about 500 different Buddha statues, and got a crash course in the Thai flavor of Buddhism, which is actually a mix between Buddhism, Hinduism, and animism.
Our first stop was Wat Traimit in Chinatown. This Wat was newly constructed to house a 5 1/2 ton golden Buddha. The Buddha was covered in plaster for transport and only recently rediscovered when the Buddha was accidentally dropped during a relocation effort, cracking the plaster and revealing the gold within (most Buddha images are cast of bronze and then finished in gold leaf, but this one is solid gold).
Our next stop was Wat Pho to see the giant reclining Buddha. This Buddha measures 46 m long, takes up a whole room, and has feet made of mother of pearl. Each Buddha statue looks slightly different based on the period and place from which it originates, but many things are held common based on the 32 ways to recognize the reincarnation of the Buddha in Buddhist scripture - long ear lobes, curly hair and top knot, slender fingers and toes all of the same length, and bow shaped eyebrows to name a few.
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