First Small Steps (Part 4)

There are so many things I am going to miss about you, dear Thailand.  Some are obvious - others not so much.

Take these two, for example.

In public parks, small patches of open sidewalk, or even under overpasses, there are free public exercise sessions each night at 6 p.m.  They are usually attended primarily by women, but the range in age is fantastic.  While we often view exercise as private if it doesn't take place on a team, this is shared and somehow beautiful

The second photo is rather innocuous but also very Thai.  Near Saochingcha in the old part of Bangkok fairly close to the palace, there are a number of stores that make and sell Buddha images ranging in size from something you would put on a table or altar to many times larger than life size.  Walking down the sidewalk, one often sees them on display or be loaded onto trucks for transport to wats.  Often they are wrapped in beautiful orange cloths like the robes worn be real monks.

This shot, however, is something much more mundane but also something that belies the nature of the stores even late at night when they are closed.  The sidewalk tiles there are multiple colours, but there are also swirls of gold.  They form the outline of the statues when they are brought out into the street for painting.  

Beautiful clues to Thai life.