Canals, Wats & Floating Markets

Bangkok, March 25th ~ Exploring Bangkok's opulent Buddhist temples (known as wats) and third-world canal homes stirs polar emotions; each clutch the breath from your chest in distinctly different ways. The grandeur of one insights awe, the hardship of the other, heartache.

Smoggy skies made it difficult to capture the extraordinary vibrancy of the wats' brilliant  mosaics, gilded murals and distinctly Asian architecture. Overbearing sunlight and pollution rendered the images flat and listless--a harsh disservice to the artisans who created these extraordinary places.

It was equally difficult to capture the ragged, ramshackle shelters along the murky canal, which in some odd way held their own beauty. Beneath the blaze of the Asian summer sun, I often couldn't even see what I was shooting on my iPhone.

Canal home.

Canal home.

Canal home with customary shrine.

Canal home.

A bend in the watery road revealed a floating market boasting a colorful and very foreign assortment of fruits, vegetables, cooked dishes, snails and other seafood proffered by merchants both on docks and in skiffs. "Croaking" wooden frogs; silk scarves; airy and ubiquitous elephant harem pants in an array of dyes; satchels, sarongs and billowy tops; and myriad other offerings consumed by both locals and tourists alike were sold in small, make-shift stalls along the canal's murky edge.

Produce being sold at the Floating Market.

Fruit and vegetable merchant.

Grilling prawns.

Grilling fish.

Skiff merchant selling wares in the canal.

"Croaking" frogs and other sundries.

The arcane and fascinating amulet market is an odd and dimly lit network of covered stalls proffering carved tiles believed to convey good fortune to their owners. Prized by collectors, monks, taxi drivers and people in dangerous professions, the trade is based around small, prized talismans.

Men (exclusively, it seems) examine the tiny amulets through a loop or magnifying glass, scrutinizing the details seeking hidden meaning and, if they are lucky, hidden value. Some carry astronomical prices

Sculpting a sitting Buddha.

Young clay sculptors creating yet more Buddhas.

Wat Intharawihan or the Temple of the Standing Buddha is home to a massive Buddha soaring some 105 feet toward the heavens. The serene giant holds an alms bowl similar to those still carried by monks today when venturing out into the streets in the early morning and again at midday to receive food from lay people. The Standing Buddha was undergoing a wardrobe change (I kid you not) and so was mostly under scaffolding during our visit, ergo the swiped stock image here.

Stock image of the Standing Buddha.

Monk to right of Buddha's feet provides perspective.

Standing Buddha modestly undergoes a wardrobe change.

We chanced upon a Lenten celebration at a Wat near the base of the Standing Buddha. A cluster of elaborately costumed girls excitedly congregated in what would be a church's narthex, awaiting their turn to perform. The head monk can be seen speaking in the upper left. Proud parents clamor for a better view and capture the occasion on cellphones...a universal parental right, it seems.

Throngs of hardy souls briskly ascend some 300+ stairs up the Golden Mountain, despite the relentless heat. Serpentine steps wind through a hill shaded by gnarled trees, stone and bronze statues, altars, and miniature pink flamingos. The 360-degree view of Bangkok at the summit is well worth the climb. The Golden Mountain houses a Buddha relic from India gifted to Rama V by the British government. Thousands of brass bells singing on the breath of the wind lend an air of sanctity and spiritual magic.

One of many vignettes along the long stair climb up.

Thousands of small bells and hundreds of larger ones, resonate in pitches both high and deep, tinkling in wind and gonging long, resonate, ethereal tones with a swing of the striker.

A prayer station en route to the summit.

One of four guardians, each at a corner of the base for a huge, golden-domed tomb.

A view from the top.

Wat Intharawan and Wat Benchamabophr are two of the city's more famous temples. A bit about each. # of temples in Bangkok.  Video of chanting monks at Bench.