Motorbike and Temple Fun

Richard and I have been wanting to rent a motorbike since coming to Thailand. It's really the cheapest and most efficient way to get around. It may also be the most dangerous, but what's traveling without a little danger, right? It was a bit terrifying. People on motorbikes in Thailand don't so much follow traffic laws. Lane lines and speed limits are seen as little more than suggestions. It is also not unusual to see whole families of up to four or five people on one motorbike, as in the picture above. Helmets? Who wears those? The worst is when you see parents and kids on a motorbike and only the adults are wearing helmets. At least put your kids in a helmet! Despite our objections to some of the principles of motorbike travel, we had a lot of fun. We saw places around Hua Hin that would have cost a fortune to get to otherwise. We went to a park with a lookout point over Hua Hin, and we went to the Wat Huay Mongkol, which is one of the most popular wats in the area. It has a huge statue of the monk Luang Por Thuat, who is famous for performing miracles.

It's definitely more impressive in person. So we had a fun weekend. I also had the chance yesterday to observe a unique ceremony. Every Wednesday, some of the students at my school walk to the local temple to donate food to the monks. Yesterday, grades four and six were going, and I got to come along. All of the kids brought food from home, and most of them had these really cool tiered lunchboxes. We got to the wat and they arranged the food for the monks.

Then there was some chanting.

And then kids brought the food to the monks and the monks ate. Apparently lunch is a pretty significant meal for monks because they're not allowed to eat anything at all until the next day. Life for a monk is full of rules like this (227 to be exact). It's not an easy life. After the monks ate, the students cleaned up, and then we got to eat! Delicious as usual.