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There are said to be about 400 temples in Bangkok, this one for love, that one for tragedy or, in the case of Wat Po, the oldest and largest of them all, for massage.

Wat Po is a celebrity among Thai temples thanks to its massive resident, the Reclining Buddha, at 46 metres long and 15 metres high.

He is covered in glittering gold leaf. The whites of his eyes are mother-of-pearl, the earlobes alone are 60 centimetres long - it's a futile exercise trying to fit the sculpture into one photo frame. But it's the massage school set amid the temple grounds that has me trekking to Bangkok's bustling religious district, where Wat Po sits alongside the royal temple, a dried fish market and a 24-hour flower market. The temple complex is enormous - 8.1 hectares filled with 1000 images of Buddha, 95 mosaic-covered chedi (stupas often containing mortal remains or a religious relic), which collect in myriad courtyards hemmed in by yet more elaborate golden roofs, portals and sculptures.

Stone benches sit beneath leafy trees near a series of low timber huts, the shutters propped open, emitting warm, fragrant air.

This is Wat Po's justifiably famous massage school, which teaches traditional Thai massage for students from across the world and trains local masseuses, who practise their techniques on visitors to the temple grounds. The link between temple and massage make sense when you learn that Wat Po housed Thailand's first university, its walls covered in anatomical diagrams and healing techniques. As I step inside, the air is scented with a mix of warm honey and camphor, used as a treatment for tired bodies and minds. The front counter spells out the prices.

Behind the counter are perhaps a dozen long benches that fit three people apiece. My masseuse, a girl with that typical Thai indeterminate youthfulness, hands me a set of floppy pyjamas, and I change in a makeshift cubicle to the rear, before she leads me to where a middle-aged woman and a young male backpacker are already stretched out, eyes shut, their limbs elegantly contorted.

For the next hour, this calm young woman works my body, pressing firmly into the flesh, lifting and stretching limbs that are heavy as lead in the sultry heat.

Forget day spa relaxation massage, this is hard work.

She apologises quietly before touching my head, the most sacred part of the body according to Thais, gingerly massaging my temples with her fingertips. The delicacy is completely abandoned, however, when she grasps my feet, which are blackened by walking barefoot around the Reclining Buddha. A quick look around, and a dozen similarly blackened soles look back.

The room hums quietly, despite the fact there are about 40 people in here - 20 of us on our backs, eyes closed and minds silent, while the masseuses chat quietly in Thai as they work.

Halfway through, I open my eyes as the masseuse moves me onto my back. Opposite, a European woman has come in with her young son. About a year old, he is blond and cherubic, and the Thai women coo softly over his plump cheeks and fair, flyaway hair.

He frets for a minute while his mother gets comfortable, then next I open my eyes, she is lying on her back in total relaxation while the masseuse strokes her calves, her baby curled up with his head on her stomach, lulled into sleep by the serenity of the room.

Finally, the treatment is over, and the young masseuse gives me a final, light tap and tells me, "massage over". It's the only thing she's said to me the entire time, despite our hour-long intimacy.

Having been briefed by a friend on protocol, I give an extra tip to my masseuse so that at the end of the hour, everybody is smiling, and my smile's the widest of the lot.

TRIP NOTES * The entrance to Wat Po is on Chetuphon Road, Pranakorn, within walking distance of the Grand Palace. It is open 8am to 5pm daily.
* The Wat Po massage school is open 8am to 6pm daily. It teaches Thai traditional massage to foreigners as well as locals (see www.watpomassage.com).

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