Making Merit, Vinmanmek Mansion Gardens, and the Night Market

Between our travels at the Grand Palace and Wat Po, Heather and I discovered that there are several ways for us to make merit. For 20 bht you can purchase a small bundle containing a candle, incense and a square of gold leaf. There are small stands in front of the Buddha which hold the candle and buckets of sand to hold the incense. You can apply the gold to the smaller Buddha images off to the side. Here is a photo of the smaller Buddha which has received many offerings of gold.
















When Heather and I walked into Wat Po we were in awe of the size of the reclining Buddha. We entered near his face, walked along his body, then saw his feet and walked around his back and left near his hair. Upon entering we could hear a constant, rhythmic clanking. When we got around to his back we found out that there was another opportunity for us to make our offering. We purchased small bowls of coins for 20 baht (about 50cents) and followed a single file line of people making offerings into a line of bowls on stands. Each bowl would get one coin dropped into it until you reached the end of the line.

The Vimanmek Mansion was also horticulturally rich. We saw Quisqualis vine (my favorite…smells like Hubba Bubba gum), Florida flame vine (not sure of the genus but has bright orange flowers), Gomphrena (which is dyed and used in many flower arrangements), Jack Fruit, and a pom pom with a sign telling me that it is Streblus asper Lour. We also saw some great formal hedges. The first photo has a small intricately clipped hedge to warn us not to walk on the grass and the next has Alternanthera and Ixora as the center stripes. Many trees were labeled at the mansion. Some of these included Desmos chinensis Lour., Terminalis chebula Retz., Schoutenia glomerata King subsb., and Diospyros decandra.
















Streblus asper Lour
















Intricately clipped hedge (photo damaged)
















Alternanthera and Ixora as the center stripes

We rested up for a little while after our day of sightseeing and headed out to the night market which runs from 7pm till ?. I can only compare this to one of the flea markets that I’ve been to in Florida but it is much larger and there isn’t much duplication of items between booths. There are hundreds of 5’ x 7’ stalls overflowing with merchandise. Silk wraps, scarves, pillow covers, celadon pottery, carved wood screens, purses, shoes, dishes, silverware, jewelry…and on and on. We stayed for 3 hours and probably only covered about 10% of the area. We got some great bargains at the night market. I won’t go into more detail because it may give away the surprise of the treats that we are bringing back for everyone. KD