Tanah Lot Temple - Bali Island

Pura Tanah Lot is one of the favorite destinations among Bali Temples followed by Pura Bedugal and Pura Uluwatu. the temple sits on a large offshore rock which has been shaped continuously over the years by the Indian ocean tide makes this a special attraction. Tanah lot is one of the closest to Seminyak, Legian or Kuta where most of the tourists would stay. It is just within 1 – 2 hour travel depends on the traffics.

Pura Tanah Lot Bali

Tanah Lot temple is also one of the scenic spots in Bali not-to-be-missed. Your visit to Bali will not be completed without a visit to Tanah Lot temple. The best time to visit the place is sunset when the sun colors the sea and sky beautifully with reds, yellows and oranges. Sunrise can do in a pinch but won't be as spectacular as sunset.  It is also one of the most popular spots for photographs of beautiful silhouette of the temples during sunset over the ocean.

Tanah Lot Bali

This place has to be visited in the afternoon if you want to enjoy the sunset and that makes this attraction part of second leg of your day trip with morning session spent at a location on the northern mountains. You can start your adventure to Pura Taman Ayun at early morning, Candi kuningan, Bedugul temple, and on the way back stopped at Alas Kedaton 'Monkey Forest' and arrived at Tanah Lot at around 4.30 PM, usually sunset is at around 6.00 pm.

the rocky island of Tanah Lot

Tanah Lot is claimed to be the work of the 15th-century priest Nirartha. During his travels along the south coast he saw the rock-island's beautiful setting and rested there. Some fishermen saw him, and bought him gifts. Nirartha then spent the night on the little island. Later he spoke to the fishermen and told them to build a shrine on the rock for he felt it to be a holy place to worship the Balinese sea gods.

Tanah Lot

At the base of the rocky island, poisonous sea snakes are believed to guard the temple from evil spirits and intruders. A giant snake purportedly protects the temple, which was created from Nirartha's scarf when he established the island.

Holly sea snakes cave at Tanah Lot

If you are lucky you can witness the Hindus people with traditional dress for the ceremonies or festivities at this temple. Hindus people doing pray at Tanah Lot Temple for special day like: Purnama (full moon), Tilem, Buda wage, Anggara Kasih, Saraswati, Siwaratri, Kajeng Kliwon and others.

Tips:

• Make sure you take plenty of water, a hat, comfortable shoes, camera.
• You can also find people who will take your photo and with your camera too if you want and give you instance photo with frame for a some fee.
• There are plenty of shops at this temple entrance for shopping almost everything including souvenirs, dress, shoes, sculptures, paintings and crafts and many else. Bargaining is expected everywhere unless the price is clearly marked, in which case it is fixed.
• Pick a sunny day with cloud free to experience seeing the sun hit the water at sunset without your view being obstructed and  make your visit to Tanah Lot Temple is a memorable one.

Pura Batu Bolong

• The views at Pura Batu Bolong are also breathtaking. I understand that this location is also famous for the red sunsets.
• The amazing thing is the holy spring water in the middle of sea water. It is free of charge. 
• Stop over at any of the rice field by By-Pass Munggu roadside at any villages while on the way to Pura Tanah Lot. As the view just simply nicer than Tegalalang Rice Terrace Field
• There are so many restaurants lined up along the mountain edge providing dining with excellent sunset view. As usual, for a prime tourist location

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Wat Arun - a must see Thailand's landmark.

Wat Arun is a must see landmark. It is a very old Buddhist temple.  The local call it as Wat Chaeng. It  is situated on the west (Thonburi) bank of the Chao Phraya River. It is one of the most stunning temples in Bangkok, because the design is very different to the other temples that you can visit in Bangkok. It is partly made up of colorfully decorated spires and stands majestically over the water.

Wat Arun from Chao Phraya River view

The temple derives its name from the Hindu god Aruna, often personified as the radiations of the rising sun. Wat Arun is among the best known of Thailand's landmarks and the first light of the morning reflects off the surface of the temple with pearly iridescence.  Although the temple had existed since at least the seventeenth century, its distinctive prang (spires) were built in the early nineteenth century during the reign of King Rama II.

Wat Arun Bangkok

This temple is one of the tourist destinations when seeing the Grand Place complex.  You can go first to Grand Place then take a walk to Wat Pho and finally go to Wat Arun.   Other tourist attractions accessible from here are the National Museum, Chinatown the Ko Rattanakosin area, and the Banglamphu district.

Wat Arun Temple

Located on the west bank of the Chao Phraya River, this temple can be reached either by Arun Amarin Road or by boat from Tha Tien Pier, near Wat Pho. The Tha Tien express boat pier, at the southwest corner of the Grand Palace or Wat Phra Kaew, is diagonally opposite Wat Arun. You can get to Tha Tien on the Chao Phraya River Express boats from any other pier, or take a taxi to it. Plenty of Thonburi canal tours also take tourists to visit this artistic piece of architecture.

Chinese soldier  at Wat Arun

The main feature of Wat Arun is its central prang (Khmer-style tower) which are encrusted with colourful porcelain. This is interpreted as a stupa-like pagoda incrusted with coloured faience. The height is around 86 m. The corners are surrounded by four smaller satellite prang.

The prang is decorated by seashells and bits of porcelain which had previously been used as ballast by boats coming to Bangkok from China. The presiding Buddha image, cast in the reign of Rama II, is said to have been molded by the king himself. The ashes of King Rama II are interred in the base of the image.

You can climb the central prang if you wish, the steps are very steep but there is a railing to balance yourself. Getting up is as tricky as getting down! When you reach the highest point you can see the winding Chao Phraya River and the Grand Palace and Wat Pho opposite. Along the base of this central tower there are sculptures of Chinese soldiers and animals.

Some tips: 

• You can get to try the traditional Thailand dress for only 100 baht at the lower part and take photo like crazy with Wat Arun as the background. 

Tourists with Thai Traditional dress

• At the jetty terminal, buy some fish food and threw them into the Chao Phraya to lure the fishes up, the fishes were huge! 
• Dress properly, off shoulders (spaghetti straps/ sleeveless ) and shorts for women are disallowed. You might ended up buying a wrap arounds on site if you are considered not dressing properly. 
• Climbing up to the steep stair of the pagoda is painful but the view for the top is very beautiful. Don't forget to take some photos with this amazing architecture. 

view from Wat Arun

• There are some stalls along the side of the temple. You can buy some t-shirt here at the outside of temple. The price is fixed.  You can buy 12 pieces for 1000 baht or 6 for 500 baht.  Price of kids size is more lower than that. There are around 10 – 15 seller in here sold T-Shirt and some sold the souvenirs   
• Despite the name, the most spectacular view of the glittering monument can be seen from the east side of the river at sunset, when the spires of Wat Arun make an impressive silhouette against the skyline. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wat_Arun
http://www.watarun.net/

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The Riverfront - Asiatique Bangkok

It’s popular not just with tourists, but also with Thais, but it definitely is the most upscale night market in Bangkok. Asiatique has combined two of the most popular shopping experiences in the city: a night bazaar and a mall. It houses over 1,500 boutiques and 40 restaurants  under a huge replica warehouse complex.

night life at Asiatique Bangkok

The Riverfront is an homage to Bangkok’s past as a riverside trading post during the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. Originally this was the pier where a lot of the teak wood trade took place, managed by Mr. Hans Nille Andersen. Located on the grounds which formerly belonged to a Danish trading company, many of the original buildings have been retained (although they did get a “facelift”).

Home Deco shop at Asiatique Bangkok

Asiatique is split into four categories to help you find what you are looking for without too much hassle.

The Factory District is where the shopping goes on. There are around 1500 small shops located in old warehouses. You find lots of fashion, some souvenirs, design items, handicrafts, furniture, home furnishings and other things, and the selection resembles the kind of merchandise you find at Terminal 21 – at least when it comes to fashion. It’s not the cheap bargain hunting you find at many other night markets.

This place has the uniquely design section - you can get a lot of unique items not commonly found at other tourist attractions in Bangkok. The clothes/bags are from independent designers with nice designs at affordable prices.

The Waterfront District is a boat terminal.  Upscale dining selection can be found in this district, with smart Italian, Thai and seafood restaurants.  You find fancy restaurants and event venues lined up along a 300m boardwalk. The New Year festive and countdown celebrations take place here.

The Town  Square District is a mixture of Thai & Western influences – a large sports bar, outdoor space for events and international food. Some independent cafes are dotted around selling strong drinks and decently priced Thai food

There are plenty of international dining options, from Japanese, to Italien, Korean, American, Thai, Seafood, Chinese, and like this shop – Champion Kebab – Turkish (it’s quite popular with international tourists).

sign to The Town Square District

The Chareonkrung District is where you find over 1,000 small boutiques  in four warehouses  that sale souvenirs, handicrafts, jewelry, home decor  and clothing. The little storefronts are attractive, the displays are interesting and there is a wide range on offer too, from fashionable Thai brands to affordable stores selling merchandise similar to those on offer in places like Chatuchak and MBK.

shops parade at Asiatique Bangkok

Asiatique also has branches of KFC, Pizza Company, Au Bon Pain and MK. As well as all this food and shopping, the two biggest entertainment draws are the Thai puppets by Joe Louis Theatre and Calypso Cabaret, one of Bangkok’s celebrated ladyboy shows. Both these shows have been attracting audiences for years, and Asiatique is the perfect new surrounding for them, offering so much more than just a performance.


Opening Hours: 17:00-midnight
Location: Chareonkrung Soi 74-76
How to get there: The easiest and fastest way to get there is via boat. Take the BTS to Saphan Taksin and jump on the free shuttle at the end of the pier. It only takes ten minutes, and the boat runs until 23:00. Taxis are not recommended as the traffic can be terrible in this area.

Source:
http://www.bangkok.com/shopping-mall/asiatique.htm
http://www.bangkoknightmarket.com/asiatique-the-riverfront

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