A Photographer's Dream

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Today J, CM, and J's uncle drove about an hour outside of Bangkok to Ayutthaya, the old capital city of Thailand. There we visited several wats, or Buddhist temples. Many times you will see cheddis inside the wat complex. A cheddi is a large conical structure containing a relic of the Buddha. At one of the wats, we were blessed with water by a monk. Buddhist monks have no money or earthly possessions and depend on the generosity of the community for their survival. We contributed by purchasing a special kit for one of the monks - a bucket containing soap, toothpaste, shampoo, etc. We also bought yellow bracelets from the monks; you will see us wearing these in many photos in the coming weeks.

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Photos

Gold Leaf Buddha
Small squares of gold leaf foil can be bought at the temple and pressed onto stone statues. Once people have covered the statues so the are golden and shining, they are moved, and replaced with new stone statues .

Monk Kits
These are the kits of toiletries you can purchase for the monks.

Paying Our Respects
Here is J giving one of the monks a kit.

Lotto
In Thailand, the handicapped are given a discount on lotto tickets from the government so they can make a living selling them to others. We like this system.

Inside a Wat
Several statues of revered monks covered in gold leaf.