Wat Arun, Bangkok

Wat Arun - the Temple of Dawn - stands on the west, Thonburi bank of the Chao Phraya, directly opposite Wat Pho. Its central prang rises about seventy metres and is the reason the temple is famous: the whole surface is encrusted with broken Chinese porcelain and seashells, pressed into the stucco in floral patterns. Much of it came from ballast in trading ships, which is why the fragments are so varied close up.

Steep stairways climb the lower terraces and are worth the effort for the view back across the river to Rattanakosin. Figures of demons and monkeys from the Ramakien hold up the tiers, and a smaller ordination hall behind the prang is usually empty of visitors.

Despite the name, the temple is most striking at the other end of the day, when the low sun is behind the spire as seen from the eastern bank. Cross-river ferries run continuously from Tha Tien pier beside Wat Pho.