Tuesday, September 3, 2013

A What? A Wat.

A couple of weekends ago, we, along with a friend, visited a Buddhist wat (temple) that we had been dying to explore. When shopping on Soi 166, outside our neighborhood, we would see the gate to the wat in the distance, but it was even closer than we expected. We also happened upon a beautiful market surrounding the wat, right on the khlong. There were boats that provided tours, but we didn't get a chance to do that. Next time, for sure! We bought foods from various food stalls and had a very eclectic and enjoyable lunch by the khlong.

The gate to the wat from our side of Ramkhamhaeng Road. There was a pedestrian bridge right by the intersection that allowed us to cross the street.

One of the buildings of the wat.
The compound.
The wat that was actually open.
Flowers in front of the wat.
Buddhist monks chanting, with lay people sitting and chanting with them.
Donation box; flowers and incense for the public to give as offerings.

A statue of the Buddha. We placed as offerings a couple of flowers and an incense stick.
Interesting and random statues in the wat.
Another Buddha statue.
Bowls for coins.
At the market by the wat, a woman demonstrated how to make pottery.
The lively market.
Bamboo with food in it. I'm thinking it's a dessert.
The khlong where the market is located.
Boat tours.
Bags of live fish, frogs, and clams being sold at the market.
Miniature horses at the market. At one point, one of the horses got loose and was strolling through the market!
The lighter colored horse was the wanderer.
Rabbits!
These piggies went to the market!
These tacos were part of our lunch. The white filling in the ones on the left turned out to be fluff, and the orange filling, which we thought was cheese, turned out to be coconut!
A crepe-like food that we drizzled with chocolate syrup! It was hot and a little flaky and chocolaty! Mmmm.
Other foods we got for lunch included Thai-style zongzi, which were still made with stick rice, similar to the Chinese ones, but included different fillings, such as mildly sweet fruits. We also got the best fried chicken ever, fresh out of the fryer and so crispy! Needless to say, we felt full and satisfied after the meal. 

Dancers performed by the khlong while we ate lunch.
Crowds gathered across the khlong to watch the performance.

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