Saturday, April 23, 2011

Bangkok, Thailand

This was the view from our hotel our first night in Bangkok. We stayed at the Hansaah (and loved it!). Bangkok is the 28th largest city in the world, although I don't think you can tell from this photo...

This was our first sight when we stepped out of our hotel. People sold products and food on the side of the road, even though there was no sidewalk and lots of street traffic!

 We went to Chinatown upon our arrival. It was surprising to see so many monks out and about in their full attire.  There are about 200,000 practicing monks in Thailand.



Fred and I took a longtail boat ride through the canals stemming from the Chao Phraya river.  Bangkok is known as the "Venice of the East".



This picture deserves a bit of a narration, although I am not sure I can offer an explanation. The women in the boat are cooking dinner to sell. The woman on the deck is talking on her cell phone next to a man who has painted himself red. Sorry the picture is blurry but I had to share it...


I think if I lived on a canal in Bangkok, this would be a nice spot. :)

2 comments:

  1. We too were puzzled by the man covered in red paint. No one else seemed to care about him. A normal Thai occurance? Wild. I do love the orange color the monks wear. I thought this was an interesting answer to why orange?:

    "In brief the color (historically) came from the washing/staining of the material in vegetable matter and spices like saffron.

    As a result it is considered the "traditional color" but Buddha's teaching is simply to wear "pure cloth" which translated to cloth that no one wanted. Originally the cloth was scavenged from waste piles and burial grounds."

    I love the way the monks stand out no matter where they are!

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  2. loved all the pictures...so amazing. the quality of your pictures is so good it makes me want a new camera! oh and take a trip somewhere. haha
    marla

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