Alms and Wat Traimit

Today, we returned to Bangkok to visit a famous important temple and to go to Chatuchak Market (JJ Market).  The temple is renowned for its solid gold Buddha which is ~900 years old.  When the Burmese were about to invade Ayuttayah, it was covered in plaster to hide its value. Two centuries later, still in plaster, it was thought to be worth very little.  But in 1957, when the image was being moved to a new temple in Bangkok, it slipped from a crane and was left in the mud by workmen.  In the morning, a temple monk saw a glint of yellow through a crack in the plaster and discovered that the statue was pure gold.  This is the world's largest solid-gold Buddha. The graceful seated Buddha is nearly 10 feet high and weighs over 5 tons.

JJ Market is open only on weekends and the Thais boast that it's the world's largest flea market.  I think every country has a market they claim to be the world's largest.  Anyway, it's really big.

Before we left our hotel in Amphawa, we had a unique opportunity to offer alms to a monk.  Buddhist monks make their rounds collecting alms from nearby people every day.  They take these provisions back to the temple and share with the other monks.  All food should be eaten before mid-day.

This particular monk paddles across the Mae Klang River from the temple on the opposite bank, then goes up the shoreline to houses and hotels.  We had food for each of our students to give to the monk.  Here is the monk approaching our hotel at 6:30 in the morning.

Our group was at the end of the line so they could see how local Thai people gave the alms to the monk before it was our turn.  We want to be respectful and do it correctly.  Here is Sera giving alms.

And Sarah...  After the monk received all the alms, he faced the entire group and chanted blessings for 2 minutes.  This was a wonderful, rich cultural experience.

Back to Bangkok:  Wat Traimit was recently rebuilt and houses the largest solid gold Buddha statue.

On the fourth level outside the room housing the Buddha is a series of bells that are to be rung by visitors.  Her is Ashley with Rachael behind her improving their fortunes by making noise with the bells..

Inside the chamber with the gold Buddha are Emily, Ashley, Sera, and Taylor.  Sorry that Taylor got cut off a little.

Zoe and Hli.

Ashley outside along the railing of the fourth level.

Sarah along the railing overlooking another Buddhist temple.  There are over 30,000 temples (wats) throughout Thailand.

Wat Traimit is spectacular when lit up at night.

Here are Ashley and Zoe in JJ Market buying a strawberry smoothie.  JJ is loaded with just about everything you could think of to buy, and the prices are generally very good.  Almost everything is negotiable, so haggling is encouraged.

Taylor is excited about her first roti.  This has been a favorite dessert snack of students on previous Thailand experiences.

I don't have any other pictures of the students in JJ.    I just couldn't find them.  The market is so big, you could shop for a week and not see it all.