Koh
Samui Travel Guide -> Sightseeing -> Big
Buddha & North Coast
There
is one temple on Ko Samui that almost every traveller to the island pays
a visit to: the Big Buddha Temple (or Wat Phra Yai, the official
name; it is also known under the name of Hin Ngu Temple). The giant
(12 meter tall) golden Buddha statue of this temple is a major landmark
of Samui and is one of the first things that you can discern if you arrive
via plane on the island. You find the Wat
on the northeastern tip of Ko Samui . In order to get there from Chaweng
drive north on the airport road along the coast and drive past the
airport to Choeng Mon Beach.
Choeng Mon is a scenic beach (to be exact, it is a collection of several small bays and coves), and a lot more quiet than Maenem or Chaweng. There is no village, only a couple of hotels and resorts. Take a little walk on the beach if you like to and enjoy the undisturbed peace of the place. Some of the better hotels here are the White House or the Tong Sai Bai (in the north of the bay). The temple Wat
Phra Yai is mainly known for the big Buddha statue that sits
on the tiny island Ko Fan directly in front of the coast (the golden colour
is paint). The face is not a masterpiece of sculpture, alas, but it has
a very friendly and benign smile. Don`t forget to climb the stairs up to
the viewing platform - it offers superb vistas of the northern coast of
Ko Samui, and of Ko Phangan. Large Nagas
(serpents from Buddhist mythology) with elaborate and really terrifying
claws flank the staircase. Besides the big statue, the temple offers a
shrine with a Buddha Maitreya (the Buddha of the Future), very fat and
happy-looking. A decorated Viharn
is currently under construction, but not yet finished. If you are coming
from Chiang Mai or Bangkok and expect to see breathtaking masterpieces
of temple architecture in Ko Samui, you are going to be disappointed, but
the island`s modest monasteries definitely have a special charm of their
own.
A lot of tourists come to these temple - and the monks soon realized that these foreign visitors might be a good source of donations. Their current project is a new shrine hall, and for the future they plan to renew the gold paint of the Buddha statue (there is already a big billboard that states how many cans of paint will be needed - and how much money that will cost!). There is an astonishing array of donations boxes and "donation machines" that are sometimes funny or touching to see: machines where you insert a coin the machine gives you a horoscope (the more you donate, the better your prospects!). If you still have some money left after trying out all the donation machines, there is also a shopping arcade outside the temple courtyard. The stalls carry snacks and souvenirs, but as in most tourist places, the items (although some are nice) are overpriced. Alternatively, you could take a walk along the Big Buddha Beach to the right of the temple. The beach is very peaceful and the waters are calm. Some inexpensive bungalow hotels and guesthouses are located here. The ferries to Ko Phangan start some kilometers west, from Bophut Beach (very similar to Big Buddha beach). There are two each day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon (if you want to spend only one day on this peaceful neighbour island of Ko Samui, take the morning ferry.) The ferry ride takes about 40 minutes. |
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