Wat what?

Our first friends the police helped us to get in touch with our second friends the monks.

In Chai Nat Theo and I went to the police station to ask them if they know a temple (Wat in Thai) where we could camp. First we were lost in translation. WAT WHAT?

What usually happens in those situations is: you get handed over a mobile phone and on the other line there is somebody that speaks a little bit of English. You explain what you want to the person on the phone, then you pass the phone back and your question gets translated. Nice! Two phone calls later we were told to hop onto the back of the police truck and were escorted to the temple by 4 policemen. A very friendly monk welcomed us and showed us where we can pitch our tent. The same monk didn’t want us to leave without breakfast the next morning and fed us with rice and a whole lot of other delicious and not so delicious dishes.

Every male Thai is expected to live as a monk at least once in his life. Only then does he become a man and his parents are proud of him. With Buddhism being the main religion in Thailand and this custom there are a lot of temples where monks live their strict life.

Monks usually seem serious, a bit shy and distant, especially towards women.

The young monks we encountered in the temple in Lampang were extraordinarily cheerful and were joking around whilst they taught us some Thai words. We stayed there for 2 nights and were spoiled with noodle soup, rice and all sorts of 7-11 sweets.

On the morning we left we wanted to take part in their morning chanting. It needed a temple gong, my mobile phone and Theo’s shouts to wake me up at 4.30 in the morning. But I wasn’t the only one that struggled with getting out of bed. Out of the maybe 15 monks that were living there only 3 were inside the temple chanting in front of some Buddha statues and pictures of the king of Thailand. After the chanting that only went on for about half an hour I went back to sleep and I’m pretty sure some of the monks did the same. :-)

After waking up at a more reasonable time we took pictures with 2 of the monks and said our goodbyes.

When we posed for the camera, there was always a security gap kept between the monks and me because women aren’t allowed to touch monks. The older monk (25 years old, has been living at the temple for 3 years) almost seemed scared that a sudden movement could accidentally cause a touch.

I found out about this rule when I, without thinking much, to show my gratitude to a monk, for letting us stay at the temple, extended my arm for a handshake (after he shook Theo’s hand) and the monk gave me a shocked, puzzled look. Since then I’m always careful around monks.

But apparently not all the monks take this precept serious. In Chiang Saen where I stayed at a temple, after Theo and I parted ways, I met a monk that came a little bit too close to me. We drank a coffee together and ate some sweets (I’m pretty sure the monk wasn’t allowed to do that :-). He asked me about my journey and I showed him some pictures on my camera and that’s when it happened. Our hands gently touched a couple of times. I backed off but the monk didn’t seem to mind the “accidental” contact. But let’s give him a break! The poor guy has been living at the temple for ten years!

In the morning before I left, he showed a lot of interest in the things I have in my backpack. I showed him my tent, my sleeping bag, the bag with my clothes in it, my bike repair stuff, my medicine… And then he discovered some tampons and pointed at them with question marks in his eyes. With hand signals he asked if they are little packet of face cream. I wanted to say yes just because I really didn’t fancy explaining it to him in sign language :-) but I was scared that lying to a monk would give me bad karma. So I decided just to tell him that they are things only women need and thank god (or Buddha) he left it at that.

Temple in Chai Nat

Temple in Sukhothai

Temple in Uttaradit

Monks from the temple in Lampang

Temple in Chiang Rai

Monk in Chiang Saen