I was delighted, soon after arriving in Bangkok, to meet a fabulous and inspiring neighbour who is a practicing Buddhist. This is a philosophy I have enormous respect for and a fascinated interest in, but she was also planning on starting a meditation course which had been on my Bangkok bucket list from the start.
Being a huge fan of yoga and mindfulness I was intrigued to learn the spiritual art of real life Buddhist meditation. As our guru has the most enchanting French accent, I felt that if it all proved a bit much, her voice would be like a meditation on its own.
She suggested we visit the area where the monks’ alms bowls are made. I am a traveller at heart and have backpacked clutching my Lonely Planet many times. I was all in.
We took the water taxi for Bang Sapi pier near our Moobaan. This is an adventure in itself. For 20bht we went all the way from Bang Sapi up to the temple at the Golden Mount, Wat Saket, changing only once. I love the people watching opportunities this kind of adventure affords.
The boat was packed, yet at every stop as people disembarked, yet more people embarked. The only person wearing a lift jacket, predictably was the girl taking the money and dispensing the tickets – you must protect the assets after all. The sights of local people living their lives alongside the river were extraordinary and the smells were…well it’s Bangkok I don’t need to elaborate. I loved it.
When we got to Wat Saket as it was Loi Krathong week, there was a fun fair and collection of stalls. This happens every year and there is a wonderful carnival energy surrounding the streets. The temple sits on a small man made hill up 300 steps which circle the mount, revealing fabulous views of the city.
The Mount itself during Loi Krathong is shrouded in red cloth and is a popular pilgrimage for local people who write on the cloth. I wrote a message for a friend who badly needed better karma…I hope it worked.
After some time at the top soaking in the atmosphere and appreciating seeing the city from above, we headed off to Baan Bat. Almost all Buddhist monks have alms bowls and begin the day collecting offerings from the local community, a custom that dates back 2,500 years. Nowadays almost all the bowls are manufactured but there remains in the alleys surrounding The Golden Mount, one last soi dedicated to the ancient art of alms bowl making.
The bowls are hand made by battering steel into shape and decorating it and the community remains and functions in exactly the same place, albeit in a slightly different fashion (I did see a surprising number of tablets of the electronic variety keeping the children entertained) and in much smaller numbers.
Over the years a thriving industry has been reduced leaving just one family making the traditional bowls although the surrounding area still functions in some way to support the monks with various temple supply shops. The whole area is worth exploring and like everywhere in Thailand the people are welcoming and friendly.
Before long it was time to return to the water taxi and head home for pick up, alms bowl under arm after some nifty bargaining. I should donate it to the faithful monks but I like it too much.