In between covering classes, Byrun was gracious enough to show us around Khon Kaen. One day he took us to a local temple which gives a fabulous view of the city when you climb to the top. In the parking lot there was an ice cream vendor. Upon further inspection we noticed that the ice cream was not in cones but in something that resembled a hot dog bun. Of course we had to try them- they were pretty good!
It was a
beautiful day and the temple was interesting. The further you climbed up (there were 9 stories, I think) the more it seemed like a storage unit for old Buddhist junk. That was a little bizarre just seeing dusty boxes and books lying around. There was a field trip going on and we were accosted by a group of students interested in shouting "hello" at the farangs (Thai word for foreigner). They were cute and you could tell they were public school kids because all of the girls have short hair, which is part of the public school dress code.
Later on we stopped by at another local temple in the evening. Apparently this one was built recently by a rich family in town to show off their wealth. It's rumored that the top of it is solid gold. Strangely enough they seemed to be playing an East Indian movie in the square beside it, projected onto a wall. We've noticed a lot of Hindu imagery since being here but I guess it's because Buddhism and Hinduism are closely related. The temples are really stunning!
2 comments:
wow, Amber- some of pics are really cool! I am a bit jealous- germany is really rainy and grey right now. I also find it really interesting that the school dress code regulates hair. Do they have some sort of thing like that for male students as well?
I think that male students have regulations too- but I think it's just "short" haircuts. Apparently the teachers carry around a ruler and scissors in the morning.
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