Wat Arun Ratchawararam Ratchawaramahawihan

This guide to Wat Arun in Bangkok starts with a strange building material: the central prang is covered in shattered Chinese porcelain, ballast tossed from trading junks on the Chao Phraya. It traces the name back to a night in 1767, when General Taksin arrived by boat after the fall of Ayutthaya and vowed to restore the shrine he found at dawn. You'll also hear how the Emerald Buddha spent five years housed inside these walls before moving across the river. Look up at the tiles catching the morning light as you listen.