this!!!!
Dragon dancers leaving the Pung Tao Gong Chinese ancestral temple during Chinese New Year. Lots of cymbals and drums etc, Reminded me of the Joss House in Innisfail when their dancers celebrated New Year, but on a much larger flamboyant scale. We blogged pics of the actual temple earlier (I think!)
I don't think this needds any explanation. Doesn't even lose anything in translation and definately covers all bases, so to speak. This was on a fence on the moat, between restaurants and bars.
Dragon dancers leaving the Pung Tao Gong Chinese ancestral temple during Chinese New Year. Lots of cymbals and drums etc, Reminded me of the Joss House in Innisfail when their dancers celebrated New Year, but on a much larger flamboyant scale. We blogged pics of the actual temple earlier (I think!)
I don't think this needds any explanation. Doesn't even lose anything in translation and definately covers all bases, so to speak. This was on a fence on the moat, between restaurants and bars.
These pillars are covered in plastic wrap up to where the yellow flags are. The idea is to protect the paint as people tend to rub their hands over them.
Ladies sending up money to be blessed by contact with the wihaan at Wat Srisuphan. Women can not enter a Consecration Hall in a Wat, so send up the money by pulley and contact with the holy building gets them merit. That's 100 baht notes you can see attached to the rope. (approx AUD $4).
"Our Friend" gets in everywhere here. For a Buddhist country, Ganesha and Hindu influence is all around. This fella was at Wat Nantaram
And from the Holy to the opposite, though no doubt many people "worship" here!! This is our local "Entertainment Centre" just round the corner, and though we have been serenaded with lots of "Come in yoo hanson man", we've yet to take the lovely ladies up on their suggestions! And I bet some of you were sceptical that this place actually existed when we first mentioned it!!
And back to Ganesha again. How the Beaver got in between beats me. Lack of computer skills I say! This would be our favourite Ganesha at Wat Srisupan. Some of the marigolds and incense are ours. Let's face it, we need all the help we can from any source!
And this is another view of those ladies with their money.Note the lovely new silver wihaan behind, to which the pulley and the money is attached.
Golden stupa at Wat Chompu which was regilded to commenorate the King's 60th birthday. You really need sunglasses on a sunny day! The whole of Wat Chompu which is close to where we stay is obviously cared for by people with influence and bank balances to match judging by the opulence of the buildings.
I had overlooked this little Buddha in Wat Srisuphan. He has the most beautiful background of green glass mosaic which I couldn't really do justice.
And of course, in Thailand, quite rightly, what the King says goes. We can't quite work out why the signs are on the fences of schools. Aimed at teachers or pupils?? It's anyone's guess.
We went down to Worarot as there was a big street celebration for Chinese New Year. The food stalls were fabulous. The stuffed squid was tempting, but having just stuffed myself with deep fried spicy (pet mackh mackh) prawns and chilli friend rice, I passed on this occasion. B had equally been hapily munching on chilli Thai fishcakes and other delights. Shame the light bulb got in the way though!
A general view down the street showing the variety of food available. The main markets at Worarot on either side were sgtill in full swing and the traffoc rumbles through regardless of how many people are about. Thai seem to not have an overly high reagrd for traffic rules!!
Well, you can't say I'm nothing if not eclectic. Just can't arrange the pics properly. This is the main alter at Wat Chompu. The small jade Buddha is superb, and the main one is so serene. Outside the city rolls aong but inside here it's all peace and tranquility.
Some of the Buddhas adorning Wat Chompu. All gold and all behind secure screns!
And the ret of that lot, They couldn't fit all into the one shot. I love the seated Buddha shielded by the multiheaded naga.
.JPG)
The exterior of the wihaan at Wat Chompu
This is the old gateway into Wat Chompu only used for ceremonial occasions as it's too narrow for 4 x 4s
Close view of the entrance to the wihaan at Wat Chompu showing the Lanna influence in the architecture. B is soaking up the atmosphere.
A close view of the original gateway
The temple dogs, or Chinthes as their counterparts in Burma are called are so fantastic. I will just have to have a couple for Bedford Hill!!! This one is at Wat Nantaram.
No, it's not the same one. Just his opposite number on the other side of the entry to the Wat. Look identical don't they? but made in the days before mass production or so we were told.
And this little one was also at Wat Nantaram, which is in the south of the city, in the area where a lot of the silversmith are located. It was interesting to see gem cutters at work, basically on the street, as well as silversmiths making beautiful jewellery and bowls. Temple dogs are to protect the Wats and Buddhas from bad spirits and demons, but there are always sooo many real life canoines around that you'd think they'd be out of a job. You can't move with one or more dogs setting up a chorus of warning. So far, that's all they've done
On a completely different note, here we were preparing for Chinese New Year with new red lanterns, as well as firecrakers and rockets.
Red is for everything good, like luck and money! What black stands for I have no idea but we just liked it. Goes well, we thought with the Thai and Lao silks around the place.
For whatever reason, across the road at Wat Chaimongkol, they decided to reroof a hall. We woke to see the old blue one gone.
No fear of heights here. These blokes were as intersted in what we were doing taking photographs as we were of what they were doing on the roof! OH & S hasn't come to Thailand yet!
Then they started to reroof it in RED! I think one guy had a safety harness. The one with the rivet gun.
And so we have a new roof to look at. Why red? Who knows and no one can tell us. The next day they came back and had to remove the end bit as they'd obviously forgotten to put on the ridgecapping.
This is the entrance to a property across the road from us. We gather it used to be the French Consulate, but is now a research centre containing old books, manuscripts etc . Apparently only people studying for Master degrees and PHD's and the like can access it,..........but we have contacts, so watch this space !!! We believe the house is fabulous. The sign on the gate says "Ecole Francaise de "L'Extreme - Orient", but it sure ain't a school anymore.
Ladies sending up money to be blessed by contact with the wihaan at Wat Srisuphan. Women can not enter a Consecration Hall in a Wat, so send up the money by pulley and contact with the holy building gets them merit. That's 100 baht notes you can see attached to the rope. (approx AUD $4).
"Our Friend" gets in everywhere here. For a Buddhist country, Ganesha and Hindu influence is all around. This fella was at Wat Nantaram
And from the Holy to the opposite, though no doubt many people "worship" here!! This is our local "Entertainment Centre" just round the corner, and though we have been serenaded with lots of "Come in yoo hanson man", we've yet to take the lovely ladies up on their suggestions! And I bet some of you were sceptical that this place actually existed when we first mentioned it!!
And back to Ganesha again. How the Beaver got in between beats me. Lack of computer skills I say! This would be our favourite Ganesha at Wat Srisupan. Some of the marigolds and incense are ours. Let's face it, we need all the help we can from any source!
And this is another view of those ladies with their money.Note the lovely new silver wihaan behind, to which the pulley and the money is attached.
Golden stupa at Wat Chompu which was regilded to commenorate the King's 60th birthday. You really need sunglasses on a sunny day! The whole of Wat Chompu which is close to where we stay is obviously cared for by people with influence and bank balances to match judging by the opulence of the buildings.
I had overlooked this little Buddha in Wat Srisuphan. He has the most beautiful background of green glass mosaic which I couldn't really do justice.
And of course, in Thailand, quite rightly, what the King says goes. We can't quite work out why the signs are on the fences of schools. Aimed at teachers or pupils?? It's anyone's guess.
We went down to Worarot as there was a big street celebration for Chinese New Year. The food stalls were fabulous. The stuffed squid was tempting, but having just stuffed myself with deep fried spicy (pet mackh mackh) prawns and chilli friend rice, I passed on this occasion. B had equally been hapily munching on chilli Thai fishcakes and other delights. Shame the light bulb got in the way though!
A general view down the street showing the variety of food available. The main markets at Worarot on either side were sgtill in full swing and the traffoc rumbles through regardless of how many people are about. Thai seem to not have an overly high reagrd for traffic rules!!
Well, you can't say I'm nothing if not eclectic. Just can't arrange the pics properly. This is the main alter at Wat Chompu. The small jade Buddha is superb, and the main one is so serene. Outside the city rolls aong but inside here it's all peace and tranquility.
Some of the Buddhas adorning Wat Chompu. All gold and all behind secure screns!
And the ret of that lot, They couldn't fit all into the one shot. I love the seated Buddha shielded by the multiheaded naga.
.JPG)
The exterior of the wihaan at Wat Chompu
This is the old gateway into Wat Chompu only used for ceremonial occasions as it's too narrow for 4 x 4s
Close view of the entrance to the wihaan at Wat Chompu showing the Lanna influence in the architecture. B is soaking up the atmosphere.
A close view of the original gateway
The temple dogs, or Chinthes as their counterparts in Burma are called are so fantastic. I will just have to have a couple for Bedford Hill!!! This one is at Wat Nantaram.
No, it's not the same one. Just his opposite number on the other side of the entry to the Wat. Look identical don't they? but made in the days before mass production or so we were told.
And this little one was also at Wat Nantaram, which is in the south of the city, in the area where a lot of the silversmith are located. It was interesting to see gem cutters at work, basically on the street, as well as silversmiths making beautiful jewellery and bowls. Temple dogs are to protect the Wats and Buddhas from bad spirits and demons, but there are always sooo many real life canoines around that you'd think they'd be out of a job. You can't move with one or more dogs setting up a chorus of warning. So far, that's all they've done
On a completely different note, here we were preparing for Chinese New Year with new red lanterns, as well as firecrakers and rockets.
Red is for everything good, like luck and money! What black stands for I have no idea but we just liked it. Goes well, we thought with the Thai and Lao silks around the place.
For whatever reason, across the road at Wat Chaimongkol, they decided to reroof a hall. We woke to see the old blue one gone.
No fear of heights here. These blokes were as intersted in what we were doing taking photographs as we were of what they were doing on the roof! OH & S hasn't come to Thailand yet!
Then they started to reroof it in RED! I think one guy had a safety harness. The one with the rivet gun.
And so we have a new roof to look at. Why red? Who knows and no one can tell us. The next day they came back and had to remove the end bit as they'd obviously forgotten to put on the ridgecapping.
And here we are at Talaat (market) Tippanet, which we stumbled across by accident. NOT on the way home from the Thirsty Beaver!! Each Tuesday they have a huge amulet market and we had searched in vain for it since we got here. Everything you could wish for in that regard is there and Thai are soooo, well, supersticious would be unkind, but they sincerely believe in placating the spirits (nats) that live in the trees adn rivers etc, and wear amulets to protect them. Some with inscriptions from the Buddhist texts, some with pictures of famous religious figures, other with the King, and many with Ganesha and Buddha images. And not only 1, they often wear many. Some are HUGE. You see 'ordinary' people like tuk tuk drivers with these massive jumbles of amulets round the neck and on their rear vision mirrors etc etc. I have a little Ganesha on my keyring and B has a beautiful chain with 3 different attachments. As I said before, we need all the help we can get!!! Of course, as with any markets, there is a lot of cheap junk, but there is also some very lovely items out there. B has been wearing his with much admiration and comments from the locals. Hasn't completely gone Thai yet.........
Couldn't resist taking a pic of this one. It could even encourage a visit to the 'fang factory'
Here we have some of the many fountains that play in the moat all round the Old City. Flood lit at night they are very pretty. The banks of the moat are all tree lined and lit up as well, so it's quite a lovely place. Of course we haven't been over there at night to take pics, but shall rectify that eventually.
Same same from a bit further back showing the old city walls which have been preserved at the corners and at the old city gates. Shame about the modern multistory buildings though.
More markets!!! Here we are at the Second Hand Market where you can get almost anything you want, or don't want for that matter. Of course, everything is "antik" and 'real stone', and lots of it is but..... We got, or rather we got followd home by a very different Ganesha with 5 heads. 4 like a Brahma and one on top, In bronze and weighs a ton, a bit of an exaggeration there. Got a good pair of 501 levis for 150baht, about $6. Will just have to keep the weight off to get into them!! This market has the added bonus of yummy street food..... a good ice cream shop..... and a chocolaterie with great Belgian chocolates. Easy to see why we like to go here. Stall holders pay 5baht, about 20cents, for the right to put up their stall or put their stuff on the road. Perhaps we should look at that, when we get to return home!!?
.
and back to my favourite Worarot. Here we have the duster and peacock feather seller who goes around with a little gong to advertise her wares, like the egg lady with the little hooter, and the icecream man with a tinkling bell. Note the shops with all their silks etc open to the streets. A shoppers delight or nightmare!
More food food food at Worarot, and soooo cheap - and fresh as. Cheryl, you would love this!!!
Couldn't resist taking a pic of this one. It could even encourage a visit to the 'fang factory'
Here we have some of the many fountains that play in the moat all round the Old City. Flood lit at night they are very pretty. The banks of the moat are all tree lined and lit up as well, so it's quite a lovely place. Of course we haven't been over there at night to take pics, but shall rectify that eventually.
Same same from a bit further back showing the old city walls which have been preserved at the corners and at the old city gates. Shame about the modern multistory buildings though.
More markets!!! Here we are at the Second Hand Market where you can get almost anything you want, or don't want for that matter. Of course, everything is "antik" and 'real stone', and lots of it is but..... We got, or rather we got followd home by a very different Ganesha with 5 heads. 4 like a Brahma and one on top, In bronze and weighs a ton, a bit of an exaggeration there. Got a good pair of 501 levis for 150baht, about $6. Will just have to keep the weight off to get into them!! This market has the added bonus of yummy street food..... a good ice cream shop..... and a chocolaterie with great Belgian chocolates. Easy to see why we like to go here. Stall holders pay 5baht, about 20cents, for the right to put up their stall or put their stuff on the road. Perhaps we should look at that, when we get to return home!!?
.and back to my favourite Worarot. Here we have the duster and peacock feather seller who goes around with a little gong to advertise her wares, like the egg lady with the little hooter, and the icecream man with a tinkling bell. Note the shops with all their silks etc open to the streets. A shoppers delight or nightmare!
More food food food at Worarot, and soooo cheap - and fresh as. Cheryl, you would love this!!!
AND..... just when you thought you'd be spared MORE markets, here is a sample of Worarot, seen from the first floor looking down at the food section. Even farangs get into the act!! You can almost smell the spices. Certainly the dried fish you can!
It is sooo much fun shopping here. Look at all those veges and fruits. Woolies and Coles will never be the same again!
Now, how many different items can you identify? You will be asked questions later!! I do hope that I've captured even a little bit of the excitement, atmosphere and general fun, this place is. It's good to know that whatever you seek, you're 99.9999% certain of finding it at Warorot.
It is sooo much fun shopping here. Look at all those veges and fruits. Woolies and Coles will never be the same again!
Now, how many different items can you identify? You will be asked questions later!! I do hope that I've captured even a little bit of the excitement, atmosphere and general fun, this place is. It's good to know that whatever you seek, you're 99.9999% certain of finding it at Warorot.
