Many Buddhas Again this morning I woke up at 5 am to meet Phramaha Charan at 6 am for the "Biin tah baat." After eating and spending a little time sharing the cultural differences between Thai's and Americans, I headed off to work on photos while sipping "cah phe yen" - known in the US at Thai restaurants as "iced Thai coffee." "Yen" refers to the fact that the coffee is cold, and the sweet condensed milk normally added is skipped in the name. "Shaa yen" is the name for "iced Thai tea."

In the afternoon, around 3pm, I meet up with Lamai and Cherry, from the english study group at Wat Arun. Cherry, who is 15 and speaks fairly good english, said that she wanted to eat pizza. I knew of a place near my favorite coffee bar, so we went. The owner is American, I believe, but the place was surprisingly under-staffed. It took a while for us to realize that Pizza wasn't available until after 4pm, so we all ordered traditional Thai food.


After we finished, I was trying to decide where we should go, and settled on a spot called the "Golden Mount", which is next to Wat Saket. They hailed a "meter taxi", and then told me that they had to head off to run some errands before going to English class at Wat Arun. I had misunderstood their schedule, and I was to be going to the Golden Mount alone. They said I could come by to visit at the class when I was finished taking photos at Wat Saket.

The Golden Mount was started as giant chedi by King Rama III in the early 1800's. The construction was abandoned due to the fear of it collapsing under it's own weight due to the soft soil. During the reign of King Rama IV in 1865, a "small" chedi was built at the top. King Rama V added a Buddha relic in the late 1800's from India inside the chedi. Then concrete walls were added during World War II. There are many shrines and ornate buildings surrounding the small hill.

I made my way up the hundreds of steps to the top where you pay a 10 baht "visitor" fee. There were many small bells hanging from wooden rods, as well as large bells (gongs) set on the flats between the sets of steps.


Inside the golden cheddi at the top of the Golden Mount is a vast array of small Buddha statues and other displays. At the center is the Buddha relic, the source of which I could not ascertain. It was covered with thousands of gold leaf squares, which are commonly used by Thai's to pay homage at shrines or Buddha images at temples. Also used are sticks of incense, candles lotus flowers, and a chain of flowers called "sanh chow lak mueng".


Outside, the view of this part of Bangkok is outstanding, and up close, the chedi is not so small after all.



Then, I made my way down to Wat Saket. Along the way, I stopped at several shrines.



Before arriving at Wat Saket, a man talked to me at a beverage stand who in the end landed up being a tout for a "fine clothing tailor shop." Usually, these people will claim to be in the same profession as yourself (if you offer that information first,) and then after the friendly talk, suggest that you probably could use a "well-made"suit for someone of your line of work. Then he (usually not she) will point at a tuk tuk driver who is conveniently waiting nearby and suggest that you make a stop at a tailor shop on the way to your ultimate destination. Realizing where things were going, I thanked him for the "useful information", but declined the tuk tuk ride as I wanted to visit Wat Saket first, and then I had an "appointment" at 6pm.

Like the Royal Palace on my first full day, I was graced with a lack of people at Wat Saket due to the late hour of the afternoon. Recently restored, it is in beautiful, like original condition. I'm not quite sure why this temple is glossed over in the Thailand guidebooks. Inside the main temple, there was a group of 9 monks in the midst of their early evening prayer chant.




I took a back exit out of Wat Saket so as to avoid the eager tuk tuk driver from before. I spoke a little Thai to some little girls, who were pretty amused, and then after walking over a canal, caught a tuk tuk to Pier 6 - where the boat to Wat Arun leaves from.




The temple structures surrounding Wat Arun are currently under renovation - like many temples in Thailand - and the construction methods are very different from those used in the US. Most different is the constant use of bamboo scaffolding.


I overheard a palm reader giving her predictions in English to a farang. When she was finished, I asked here where I could find the english speaking class. Unlike the US, most people will readily give directions to any place - including those to their business competitors - without and suspicions of your potential ulterior motives. This is because of couple of the important tenets of Buddhism: Do no wrong to others, and do not lie.

I walked into the small courtyard where the class was already ongoing, to be welcomed by familiar faces. I helped them by listening to their summation in english of one of the stories of Buddha that they had just read. Eventually, the teacher, a monk, started into a lengthly discussion - more like monologue - about the Iraq war. Lucklily, I extricated myself out of the uncomfortable situation by explaining that I was meeting someone at 7pm (which was true). I asked Lamai and Cherry if they could meet up again tomorrow and perhaps this time join me to see a few sights. They agreed to meet at 1:30.

I caught a tuk tuk back to the guest house where I received a message from Sahraneh that should would be late in meeting with me. A stroke of luck - and enough time to take a quick shower! When she finally showed up, she suggested that we go to Wat Intharawihan for a special night festival. This lasts for one week every March, and is much like a small carnival, except with a lot of donating to the temple and praying to Buddha. We tried our marksmanship with pop guns, then rode the ferris-wheel (called "ting tah sawan" in Thai.)








The main feature of Wat In (as it is called by nickname,) is a tall standing golden buddha, 32 meters in height. Hundreds of people were milling around, praying and giving offerings (everything mentioned above, plus cash.)


We finished our jaunt by watching some "modern" Thai dancing.


  ¶ 10:23 AM