It was incredibly important to me that, during our time in Thailand, we experienced some temples. I have seen a lot, but haven’t been able to experience anything related to Buddhism, or its culture. So I desperately wanted to experience that and soak that in. And it turns out it couldn’t have been easier to accomplish my Phuket Temple Tour.
We took a private van to both Big Buddha and Wat Chalong in Phuket. Both were incredibly beautiful, in very different ways.
Big Buddha
Atop a huge hill, Big Buddha sits high above the neighboring town, so everyone looking up can see its beauty. It is huge, made of marble, and a relatively new build. I didn’t expect any of those things, for some reason. Despite this, it was absolutely stunning.
You walk onto the… property? That doesn’t feel like the right word but.. property. I was then given a scarf to wrap around myself. I had on a dress that made my shoulders visible, and this was against the rules, so they were kind enough to have scarves available for free. Now, the western feminist in me has feelings about my clavicles being considered indecent. However, the world traveler in me is respectful of culture, so I gladly took the scarf and we walked toward the stairs.
We spent a decent amount of time there, looking out toward the ocean from the beautiful watchpoints. We also walked around the incredible marble structure and seeing the smaller Bronze Buddha and other beautiful statues on the hilltop. Finally, we listened to the monks recite mantras over and over in a hypnotizing and beautiful manner. It was overall, very lovely. We felt absolutely welcome, and in awe.
Wat Chalong
Our second stop on our Phuket Temple Tour for the day was Wat Chalong. Wat Chalong had many different buildings, each with a unique story (which I would encourage you to read about here), and all were incredibly beautiful. You are to remove your shoes entering any of the buildings. One again, I received a scarf to cover my shoulders with.
The vibe here was slightly different than at Big Buddha, which I felt consisted of people admiring architecture vs. religion. Wat Chalong truly was a beacon of Buddhism for the people there, who were praying in each of the buildings and, seemingly making offerings.
There was also a small structure that was consistently lighting some sort of explosion every few minutes that was, to be honest, startling to me. It was really cool, but kept making me jump.
And finally, in a cool reminder of where we were earlier in the day, we could see Big Buddha from almost every window of Wat Chalong.
Want to know what else to do on your trip in Phuket? Check out my full intinerary, and feel free to reach out either here or on Instagram and I’m glad to give you any additional insights.
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