Saturday, July 18, 2015

Last morning in Chiang Mai

 I hadn't seen too many temples (and Thailand has over 40,000 temples) so I got up at 5:30 to walk around the old city.  Many of the temples are open at 6:00 a.m. and I needed to be ready by 9:00 to catch a flight to Bangkok.  It was only the monks and I as well as a few street vendors setting up for the morning.  It was relatively cool and quite serene.
The young monks, mainly 8-20 years old, walk through with brass bowls collecting Alms as Merits that range from money, to fruits, and many other goods.  Collecting the Alms as Merits is believed to lead to a better next life or to lessen the number of times the Monks must be reincarnated before reaching lightened nirvana.  

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