A visit to Monk’s bowl village, and a gold mount

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Ever wonder where monks go to buy bowls? I imagine many of you are nodding your heads in agreement, having wondered the same thing often. Turns out that in Bangkok, they all go to the same place - the aptly named monk’s bowl village.

Monk’s bowl village, or as the cool kids call it, MBV (editor’s note: no one calls it this), is tucked away on a skinny alley in the middle of what seemed to be a dirty soi (neighborhood) in the midst of a slow decay. Three families make the bowls by hand, in a time consuming process that yields around one monk bowl a day. The place was an odd juxtaposition of sacred practice and crumbling surroundings - the calm meditation and running streams associated with Buddhist monks were no where to be found. Instead a constant noise and movement defined the alley - carts cutting through the street, continual banging, and rows of pots, all in different stages of development cluttered the area. I met one of the families, watched the work for a while, and even bought a bowl - probably my favorite purchase thus far in Bangkok. Knowing that you own something that even a monk would approve of is always a good thing. Or so I would think.

Following MBV I headed over to Gold mount, a giant mount looking object with a gold top. It practically names itself. Thick trees and plants surrounded said mount, with an entrance comprised mostly of stairs. One winding walk up later, I found myself overlooking most of Bangkok, with the woods giving way to wats, buildings, and in the distance, several skyscrapers and bridges. I walked around for a while, observing monks in action, doing a bit of Thai fortune telling (unlike Chinese, doesn’t come with a cookie), and learned that I would have ‘no lucks’. I was bummed that I would be missing out on not just one, but several lucks. I’d go on, but I’m already approaching a record word total, and the pictures do the place far better justice.

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Photos

Bells
A common theme on the mount

Stairs
I walked up many of these

A view from the top
the tippity top

Gold mount from a distance
Title says it all.

Makin' bowls
using fire for bowl related purposes.

Stud
He handled the more financial side of bowl making. He also likes smiles and is an aquarius.

Another view
redundancy!

Bells
They love their bells here at the mount.

More bells!
This time in a row!

The mount itself
This is the gold mount. It's all good and golden like.

Comments

[Andrew]

Monks
I like to visit MONK's