Phuket – Wat Chalong

We had a big fam-bam trip to Phuket last December (that I vlogged). However recently, I stumbled upon some photos that reminded me that I had not covered all places we visited in the vlog.

And since I am running low on material for the blog (no travel, reading slump, and no brand/dining collabs), I thought I’d share some photos and thoughts on Phuket in more detail.

Wat Chalong is one of the biggest and most popular temples in Phuket. If you book a half-day city tour from any of the local travel agents around, Wat Chalong is almost definitely included in the itinerary.

Wat Chalong is a big place, with several buildings including the main temple, containing statues of the revered monks where people can pray, apply gold leaf to the statues, light incense and candles, and so on.

There is another Chedi with a tall tower, in which one finds painted walls with scenes from the life of Buddha and many Buddha images. At the top of the tower is what is said to be a fragment of bone of Buddha himself. There is also an air-conditioned building containing waxworks of the revered monks.

I really loved the fact that this was a regular temple with worshippers. It was so relaxing and calming to see people at their prayers.

Now, I generally love visiting Buddhist temples whenever I visit South east Asia. I loved the Buddha temples in China and Sri Lanka. They are all universally clean, well maintained, and very pretty. So, I liked Wat Chalong as well.

That said, I have to say that I wasn’t as impressed by Wat Chalong when I compare it to the temples I visited in China and Sri Lanka. Historically also, it’s not as impressive as the Big Wild Goose Pagoda (built in 652 AD) or the Tooth relic temple built in 1595 AD.

Here are a couple of pics of the temples I visited in China and Sri Lanka. Beautiful, right?

Wat Chalong, while really pretty didn’t quite match up to their beauty and majesty.

Interiors of Wat Chalong

Here are a few photos of the interiors of the temple. My camera was malfunctioning, so I ended up clicking pics with my GoPro. The GoPro is awesome for video, not so much when it comes to still photos – especially taken indoors, so excuse the quality of these photos.

Outdoor shots

More than the interiors, I simply loved the outdoors. The exteriors of the temple complex are fantastic, and I spent more time just hanging out in the bright sun.

So, yes it’s not as glorious as some other temples I have visited. But it’s still worth a visit if you visit Phuket. It’s location very close to other tourist attractions (such as the Big Buddha) make this place quite popular with tourists.