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Two main reasons of why we placed Wat Saket or Golden Mount first in our Bangkok city tour. First, Wat Saket is located at a relatively high spot to catch the skyline of Bangkok. Second, it can be reached by boat from the place we stayed.

However, when we arrived at Golden Mount, there were more that we discovered. In 1792, King Rama I did perform the royal bathing here after he became the new ruler of the kingdom. It was built on an artificial hill under the sponsorship of King Rama III and completed during the reign of King Rama IV (a.k.a. King Mongkut) in 1865. Situated at 100 m high with 500 m of diameter, enshrining ceremony of Buddha's relics brought from Grand Palace to be deposited on the stupa/chedi atop was performed by King Rama V (a.k.a. King Chulalongkorn) in 1897. Second visit by His Majesty was in 1899 to deposit the Buddha's relic received from India. Thanks to the historical significance, Wat Saket has continued to receive royal sponsorship and support including the construction of religious building and monk's quarter as we saw there was some restoration work in progress at the foot hill.

On top of the above historical value, Wat Saket is unique as it was used as cremation and burial site. When you are walking into the temple's compound after passing the gate, there are some cemetery sites on the 'wall' of the hill and some by the stairs towards temple atop.

We enjoyed our hike over 300 plus steps as the view of Bangkok city was really scenic that day. The sky was blue and strong breeze flashing on us as a sign of motivation to us. If you are catching some breathes, you may rest at the middle hill. A clean washroom is also available for nature call.

Once you have arrived at the entrance, catch an awesome view of the city and make a visit inside the temple.

Then, look for a staircase sign board to the golden chedi on hill top. We were there almost noon of the sun which was rather intense but the blow of wind was heavenly comforting!

Entrance is free and The Golden Mount is open daily from 8 am to 5 pm. It can be reached from Saphan Fa pier on foot. Look up for the golden chedi, refer to signboards and try to avoid the touts.

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