Wat Saket - For Hiking, Brilliant Aerial views of Bangkok & Wonderful Architecture/Temple

On very first day in Bangkok, first thing we did was to visit Wat Saket which is also known as Temple of the Golden Mountain and our visit to the city started with lot of happiness and excitement at the top of this beautiful temple. In this blogpost, we will share more about Wat Saket, why do we recommend a visit to this place before you end your day and head towards some of the popular pub streets of Bangkok along with lot of other tips to make best of this visit in terms of money, things to do and photography opportunities.

We arrived early in the morning at Bangkok and check-in time in our hotel was 11am. We went to our hotel reception, which was located around Khao San Market. We put our luggage at the hotel and walked to Wat Saket which was a comfortable walk through streets full of Thai food options and graffitis.

Wat Saket Ratcha Wora Maha Wihan usually shortened to Wat Saket is a Buddhist temple in Pom Prap Sattru Phai district, Bangkok, Thailand. Although above photograph only shows a model.

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There is a entry ticket for Wat Saket like many other in Thailand. If I remember correctly after 6 months :), it was 50 Bahts per person. Above photograph shows the area/path leading to ticket counter. The climb start from the same point where ticket counter of Wat Saket is.

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Wat Saket is unique place to visit and explore in Bangkok and because of some cool reasons - This temple is located at a height, so one needs to hike a bit and then you explore real beauty of a Thai Temple at such height. The other added advantage is to enjoy wonderful aerial views of Bangkok city of Thailand.

Above photograph is a view of place in front of Ticket Counter at Wat Saket. There is a parking area close to the ticket counter but there are not many slots, and we noticed lot of folks finding car parking outside the boundary wall. This area is within the boundary wall of the Wat Saket and I don't think one should expect parking here.

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While you climb up towards the main temple, you see lot of these sculptures, water bodies, waterfall, water sprinklers, vines & plantations etc.

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Phu Khao Thong is a steep artificial hill inside the Wat Saket compound and it means Golden Mountain.

Initially it was decided to build a chedi of huge dimensions inside Wat Saket, but the chedi collapsed during construction because the soft soil of Bangkok could not support the weight. Over the next few decades, the abandoned mud-and-brick structure acquired the shape of a natural hill and was overgrown with weeds. At times you wonder how things are created through unintentional phenomenon - natural or not so natural.

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A relic of the Buddha was brought from Sri Lanka and placed in the chedi, which is one of the popular one in Bangkok. This whole place is built over years and the surrounding concrete walls were added in the 1940s to stop the hill from eroding. Current Wat Saket was built in the early 20th century of Carrara marble.

Above photograph shows people climbing up towards Wat Saket from the ground level where ticket counter is situated.

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IF we talk about timings of Wat Saket & the Golden Mount , they open every day from 9am until 7pm.

Admission price for Wat Saket : Admission to the temple (Wat Saket) is free. Admission to the chedi at the top of the mountain is 50 Baht.

Above photograph shows first level after the climb where there are huge bells installed and most of the visitors ring these bells one by one and then head upwards. Apart from the bells you see in above photograph, there are even bigger ones at same level and some temples at this level.

A very special festival takes place at Wat Saket in the month of November, featuring a candlelight procession up Phu Khao Thong to the chedi. Phu Khao Thong is now a popular Bangkok tourist attraction and has become a symbol of the city.

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Things you should be aware of when visiting the Wat Saket:

1. Respectful attire is required. Wat Saket is a functioning Thai Buddhist temple so men must wear long pants and short-sleeved or long-sleeved shirts. Women must wear skirts or pants extending at least to the knee and also should not wear a top that reveals bare shoulders.

2. Visitors are allowed to take photographs in any area of the complex so that's not a worry. In fact, I didn't face such challenge in any other Thai Temple in other cities of Thailand as well.

3. During the annual Loy Krathong festival the temple grounds can get very crowded.

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Near the base of the steps is an unusual cemetery, overgrown with vines and trees, where the ashes of numerous plague victims of the late 18th century are buried into the base of the Golden Mountain. Because the temple served as the primary crematorium during this dark period in Bangkok’s history the cemetery and its surrounding neighborhood became known as ‘Ghost Gate’.

A climb to the top of the mount is a journey of more than 300 steps. Visitors are treated to several resting spots and viewpoints while climbing the many steps leading to the top of the mount. Like above photograph shows people climbing up and also looking around the temple & enjoying Bangkok landscapes.

Upon reaching the top of the steps visitors are rewarded with a 360 degree view of Bangkok city and it's skyscrapers at a distance. To the west you can see the Temple of the Emerald Buddha at the Grand Palace which is another popular place to explore in Bangkok. To the northwest of Wat Saket, you can see the Rama VI bridge with its golden suspension cables and this one stands out. Looking east you can see the towers of Bangkok’s business district.

Wat Saket temple dates back to the Ayutthaya era, when it was known as Wat Sakae. When Bangkok became the capital, King Rama renovated the temple and gave it it's present name. Lot of local Thai people visit this temple and the faith is clear from different activities these folks do at the temple, which I have tried to share in this post (as per my observation - some of the details can be wrong or may not align with religious beliefs).

Wat Saket ‘The temple of the Golden Mount’, is also one of the city’s oldest temples in Bangkok.

The structure of Wat Saket is distinct because of the 80-meter high mountain, called Phu Khao Thongwhere the temple’s main gilded stupa rests.

Above photograph shows the huge Stupa at the top of the temple or mountain. It was very hard to click this whole Stupa in one shot. I also tried clicking using Panorama mode but even that failed because bas of this Stupa is pretty thick.

Above photograph would give you some sense about scale of the Stupa I was trying to describe above. Look at the size of these people and compare that to the base of Golden Stupa you see on the left side of the photograph.

It was very interesting to see things which are offered at the temple. These are kinds of hampers with all kinds of things you buy for your household - shampoo, soaps, toothpaste, toothbrush, cloths of different kinds and lot of other things which I have never seen in the past as offering material in temples or other religious places.

The structure that Wat Saket is best known for is its 80 meter high hill called “Golden Mount” and the huge gilded stupa on top of it. It was once the highest point in Bangkok.

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