Like an self-respecting Asian country, Thailand is home to many Buddhist temples. It is interesting to me how Buddhist temples in Japan, China, and Thailand all look so different. Japanese temples are quite austere, usually relatively simple buildings with statues of Buddha and (of course!) Zen gardens. The temples that we saw in China were magnificent, conjuring images of rich, nearly decadant, homages to the gods. In Thailand, the temples were fantastically decorated to the point of being guady. There was ornate tile work and painting covering every surface. Beautiful, yes. But sometimes over the top. Another major difference is that Thai temples were distinctly religious. Though China and Japan are both Buddhist countries, Buddha often seems like an afterthought in temples. Anyhow... here's some photos of temples in Bangkok.
Our guide said that these figures were temple guardians. Apparantly using quasi-evil demons is the best way to protect temples from evil-evil devils.
Statues inside the temple grounds.
Another temple...
photoshop alert! I removed Japanese tourists from this photo. Can anyone tell me how many or where exactly they were standing?
In Bangkok, we took a tour of the canals criss-crossing the city. They are called Klongs, I believe. It was the best look we got at Thai life outside of the city and touristy areas. Immense poverty...
After Bangkok, we took a trip up North to a city called Chiang Mai. I think we all agreed that it was the best part of the trip. Quieter, less smelly, and safer(-seeming) than Bangkok, we saw a lot more of the area than just the mandatory day of temples.
Lotus flowers were everywhere. I don't think I'd ever actually seen one before. Apparently, people fold down the outer petals by hand to create a more beautiful shape. Or something like that. This was taken at night in a flower market.
We got out of the city one day and had many "hazardous to your health" experiences. The first was an elephant ride. I can now honestly say, elephants are nothing like overgrown, ugly horses. They more or less go where they want to/where the other elephants are going, and hopefully sometimes that works out well for you.
The other "exciting" experience of that day was a bamboo raft ride. Sadly I do not have pictures because they advised not bringing a camera. But we did have an encounter with a poisonous snake. Or at least, our guide was scared of the snake so we thought we probably should be, too. Regardless of whether or not the snake was worth being afraid of, the water certainly was.
That day, we also visited a few villages of various Hill Tribes. The Hill Tribes are people that live in the countryside of Thailand that are not ethnic Thai. Different tribes come from surrounding areas such as Cambodia and China, and they all have their own languages and customs. The overhwhelming poverty there made the people living along the Klong in Bangkok look rich.
Here's a woman weaving. After leaving there, Mom immeadiately regretted not buying her entire stock.
Also in Chiang Mai, we visited several crafts factories, including places that made celadon glassware, teak carvings, and paper products. Here are some pictures from the teak factory and the paper factory.
That's all for now. This Saturday, my sister is arriving in Japan for a visit. Afterwards we'll head up to Kyoto and Hiroshima. Until I get back, this is
sayonara.
Labels: vacation
