Today I felt like Judah Macabee as I was dipping a spoon into a bowl of oil to keep the eternal flame going outside the Bangpli Wat. That was just after I drank some water from a huge tank where everyone dipped the one cup available into the bin to drink some holy water, I assume! Water played a huge role today as I also got sprinkled with ‘cold’ holy water by a monk going crazy spraying everyone. Needless to say, I lit many candles and incense as I visited Chachonengsao and later Wat Banglpli. If I was a Buddhist, it would have been a very spiritual and peaceful day, but since I am not, it certainly was fascinating from the anthropological point of view.
Since I am shortly leaving for Myanmar for two weeks, I thought I should play the tourist again for the last time before I go. Since reading about day trips in "Bangkok 101" last year, I always wanted to visit Chachonengsao. I know I am spelling it ‘wrong’ but the spelling was not in English, believe me. It is a transliteration and mine is a good as the next person’s, as long as I am saying it correctly( which I realize is debatable).
I was going to take a regular bus but since I woke up late I decided to take a taxi for $35, not even enough money to get me to the airport in Toronto. I went about 70 kilometers each way and visited two wats, rice fields, restaurants and a school. How can you beat it?
The Thais are obviously very superstitious from what I observed. Praying at all religious sites is just a matter of course, whether it is Buddhist temple or not. From what I observed, you start by getting a group to dance for you, then you make a donation and buy some gold leaf and add it to your Buddhas, depending on your birth date ( mine is a Thursday as it turns out), and in case you want to hedge your bets you throw or place coins on all the Buddhas for luck.
Each Buddha represents a different day of the week. If that is not enough, you buy a horoscope sort of thing which wishes you good fortune, which is always interpreted as money. I guess when you don’t have any it is very important.
I also witnessed people shaking a jar filled with sticks. When one stick eventually fell out, you looked at the number of the stick and that apparently tells you your fortune for the next little while. From what I observed, it was all a question of hedging your bets for a prosperous and good life. By the way, a monk made me shake a jar of sticks and told me my fortune or something. My Thai is simply not that good but that is what I assume was happening. He was an extremely nice man and insisted on taking me through the rituals and explaining things to me.
At the end of this month it is the Chinese New Year and since I work for Chinese people , it should prove to be as interesting as today!
Since I am shortly leaving for Myanmar for two weeks, I thought I should play the tourist again for the last time before I go. Since reading about day trips in "Bangkok 101" last year, I always wanted to visit Chachonengsao. I know I am spelling it ‘wrong’ but the spelling was not in English, believe me. It is a transliteration and mine is a good as the next person’s, as long as I am saying it correctly( which I realize is debatable).
I was going to take a regular bus but since I woke up late I decided to take a taxi for $35, not even enough money to get me to the airport in Toronto. I went about 70 kilometers each way and visited two wats, rice fields, restaurants and a school. How can you beat it?
The Thais are obviously very superstitious from what I observed. Praying at all religious sites is just a matter of course, whether it is Buddhist temple or not. From what I observed, you start by getting a group to dance for you, then you make a donation and buy some gold leaf and add it to your Buddhas, depending on your birth date ( mine is a Thursday as it turns out), and in case you want to hedge your bets you throw or place coins on all the Buddhas for luck.
Each Buddha represents a different day of the week. If that is not enough, you buy a horoscope sort of thing which wishes you good fortune, which is always interpreted as money. I guess when you don’t have any it is very important.I also witnessed people shaking a jar filled with sticks. When one stick eventually fell out, you looked at the number of the stick and that apparently tells you your fortune for the next little while. From what I observed, it was all a question of hedging your bets for a prosperous and good life. By the way, a monk made me shake a jar of sticks and told me my fortune or something. My Thai is simply not that good but that is what I assume was happening. He was an extremely nice man and insisted on taking me through the rituals and explaining things to me.
At the end of this month it is the Chinese New Year and since I work for Chinese people , it should prove to be as interesting as today!
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