Temples and Shrines and Such

Thailand is the called the Land of Smiles and while that is true, it could also be called Land of a Bazillion Shrines---sometimes three to a block. We toured shrines and temples in both Bangkok and Chiang Mai---although I confess I cannot tell a temple from a shrine. Are shrines the ones with the statues of Buddha? Do temples have Buddahs? Should I have taken notes?

Who knows the answers to these questions? Probably the very reason people speak of religion as being full of Mystery. Or maybe not. Anyway, that’s not my point.

My point is this: no matter how different the peoples of the world seem to be, how different their customs and beliefs are different from my own, we are all more alike than we are different.

I was raised in a very understated, mostly unadorned church. Most of the shrines—or temples-- I saw were incredible works of art: mirrored mosaics, hand painted tiles, gilt and gilding and decorations galore. Even the more modest buildings had intricate carvings and exquisite details. So, in that aspect, it was quite different---stained glass windows aside-- from the churches I’m used to.

Worship style---at least on the surface—seemed different as well. In Thailand, you remove your shoes at the door and many worshipers approached on their knees before prostrating themselves on the floor, making a low, humble ‘Wai phra’ as a sign of respect. I saw a mother teaching her very young son the proper way to fold his tiny hands in front of his face, then bowing three times, flattening his hands on the floor with each bow. Nearby, his two brothers---probably between 4 and 6 years old, were performing their own ‘wai phra’ with great enthusiasm. So much enthusiasm, in fact, that it began to resemble a game of Leap Frog more than sedate, adult worship. After they completed their offering, the mother broke out a collection of small trucks and Thomas the Tank Engine to keep the boys occupied as she finished her own prayers. I had to smile in recognition as, from my own experience, they were only a baggie full of Cheerios away from being a Sunday morning in a Presbyterian Church.

Some things, like smiles and small boys, seem to be Universal.

While the Gardner is Away...

While I was out of the country for 17 days, distracted by travel and delicious food, by religions not my own, by elaborate temples and shiny shrines and cats of all colors---and let’s be honest here: SHOPPING! BUY! BUY ALL THE THINGS!! PRETTY and MINE and MORE and “You’re kidding, that’s only that many Bhat? I’ll have TWO!” I don’t want to brag but I’m pretty sure I single-handedly insured that the Thai economy would continue to boom during my visit.

Anyway, while I was thus engaged, all manner of nonsense was continuing back home in my absence—and no, I’m not referring to the political landscape, but to my personal one. Grass was growing, weeds were rocketing, and the elk---ah, you’re thinking, NOW she’s going to get back to the business of kvetching about the elk! I’m sure you were beginning to wonder---but the TRUTH IS THE ELK SEEMED TO BE WELL BEHAVED WHILE I WAS GONE.

I know! I too, was surprised. And worried. Because it was TOO quiet, if you know what I mean. However, jet lag is a Real Thing and I spent my first week home napping unexpectedly on the couch and craving dinner at 4 a.m. So, I failed to take advantage of the lack of destruction and get preemptive with my defenses. My kids had been kind enough to come mow my grass a couple of times during my absence, but my neglect soon negated their earlier efforts. The elk were free to frolic, unmolested by my outrage and copious amounts of stinky spray. Once I had returned from my travels to take up residency on my sofa the game was back on.

The grass continued to grow, but the elk were, of course, uninterested in my knee-high lawn. As I slept, they crept, surreptitiously nibbling a daylily here and a phlox there. Very un-elk-like, the nibbling, and it fooled me into a state of lazy complacency.

Until I woke up.

Thai Cats

This cat can't even

This is a Thai cat---named Tea---who lives in the wholesale fabric shop in “Second China” (Chinatown) that is owned by a nice man from India. This cat speaks fluent Cat and does not care what you think. I love him.

I like cats. You know that. I met a lot of cats in Thailand and fell in love with them all; cats that live in Temples, cats that live on the street. Plenty of cats with three-quarter length tails with a kind of a knobby-nub on the end. Restaurant cats and shop cats, cats that went about their cat business, cats that were too cool to acknowledge my very existence. Or, you know, just cats. Being cats. In Thailand. Wearing fur coats in the extreme heat.

I very much wanted to bring them home with me, forgetting for a moment that I already live with two perfectly fine Rescue Cats---I prefer that term to “Box Kitties”—who would not be at all amused to suddenly have Siamese siblings. (See what I did there? A little play on words? Thailand was once known as Siam, so technically you could refer to all local Thai cats as “Siamese.” What do you mean - it’s not funny if you had to explain the joke? Pretty sure it’s still funny.)

Except for Tea, most of the cats I saw in Thailand were “strays”, but they were being fed by the local shop owners and treated with more respect than you’d expect. Perhaps the gentle treatment of alley cats has to do with the Buddhist ethical concept of “making merit.”

Restaurant cat

Per Wikipedia, Merit is the “beneficial and protective force which accumulates as a result of good deeds, acts or thoughts” and is an important part of Buddhist life. I’m formulating a plan that will turn “Crazy Cat Lady” into “Extreme Practitioner of Buddhism.” I think I’m on to something...

Temple cat

Cat Cafe

Cafe Cat

Shop cat

The cat I brought home with me

City of YUM

When my flight landed in the capital city of Bangkok, and I cleared customs and rendezvoused with my high school BFF/tour guide/interpreter/and shopping enabler---let’s call her “C”---the very first thing we did was eat. And eating would be a reoccurring theme throughout our trip.

No. We did NOT

Bangkok is a city of over 8 million people, and stretches across 600+square miles and I’m pretty sure there are at least three food opportunities---restaurants, food carts, street vendors---for every person. Fruit vendors, noodle vendors, chicken, pancakes, “vintage” ice cream---meaning not that the ice cream is old, just that the popsicle/ice-cream molds are---whatever you might want, it’s on offer in Bangkok. Including American favorites Starbucks, Subway and McDonalds.

In Thailand, things are cheap. And delicious. And before you know it, you are turning up your nose at a reasonably priced hotel breakfast and saying with a snort, “Pfft! I can get that on the street for 20 Baht!” Which, as of the time of my visit, was about .58 cents, American. You read that right, less than 60 cents. For breakfast. In Thailand. From a street vendor.

In fact, things are so cheap in Thailand, I could make a convincing argument that you could afford to fly to Thailand to have lunch and have someone there do your laundry --- 45 Baht/ $1.30 for 12 items, 1.5 KG “with dry”---take time to see a few dozen temples and still come out money ahead. The only reason I don’t sell my washer and dryer and just have my laundry done in Thailand is the jet leg. Turns out it’s a real thing---not just an excuse to nap in the afternoons, as I had previously thought.

In case you are thinking right now, on the phone booking your flights and packing your dirty socks, let me give you a quick list of ‘Things You Must Eat In Thailand’:

Breakfast

Lunch by the Pool

Som tum

Too Stinky to eat

Mangos. Mangos with sticky rice and sweetened coconut milk---from a street vendor. Do not question me on this, just do it. You will thank me for it.

You should also eat shredded, pounded, green papaya salad, “som tum.” “Som” means sour and “tum”  means ‘they kind of smoosh it up so the flavors of the lime and chilies mingle’. It is so yummy they should call it “some yum”. Eat around the tomatoes if you’re worried about food borne illnesses, and you’ll be fine. We tried to not eat anything that hadn’t been peeled or cooked and that strategy worked out well for us.