Friday, June 6, 2008

Today I found 1 foreign coin. Although it will not count toward the daily totals it does keep alive my consecutive change streak.

So yesterday I hopped a flight from Bangkok to Ching Mai, a city in northern Thailand. Ching Mai is quite different than Bangkok in that it is much smaller, less congested, and has much more of a rural feel to it (although it is still a large city by Thai standards).

The one foreign coin, a 25 cent baht, was found while I walked down the streets of Ching Mai. It was in a gutter and I was happy to retrieve it and add it to my collection.

In one regard Bangkok and Ching Mai are very similar . . . both have tons of wats around. Today we visited Wat Doi Sutep. It’s on the outskirts of Ching Mai and was quite the sight. The picture today comes from there and it is the stupa (the golden arch that is prominent at every wat) and a Buddha:


Interestingly, you can tell a lot about the meaning of different Buddha statues based on the position of the body (sitting, standing, walking, or reclining) and by the hand gestures. There are six major poses of the Buddha, although roughly 80 poses have been documented, and each one has a particular meaning.

The Buddha in the above picture is in the “Subduing Mara” pose, the most common in Thailand. Subduing Mara is the pose that signifies Lord Buddha right before enlightenment. Buddhism explains that just before the event Lord Buddha summoned the Goddess of Earth to save him from Mara, the personification of evil. Buddha was saved and obtained enlightenment.

Totals for the day: 1 Foreign Coin
Race Totals: $661.71