Floating Alms

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This was my first visit to the floating markets around Amphawa, not far from Bangkok, Thailand. I had watched the Buddhist monks collecting alms for their monasteries in the city’s markets but was struck by this waterborne monk visiting the vendors at the floating market, delivering blessings and prayers and collecting food. He was so good at his job that his boat was nearly sinking with the load when he was finally done. And, after all, why not floating alms gathering?

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The story behind the photo

On my first visit to Bhutan, I flew in and out of that country via Bangkok. Since this was my first visit to Asia, and the getting there was long, I decided to spend some time in Thailand’s famous and notorious capital on the way in and the way out. This totaled over a week in Thailand. As with all my visits to new places, I did some research prior to going. Bangkok itself has a lot to offer. I stayed in the old town in a hotel right on the river, in clear view of the city’s most famous monuments and a short walk from the Grand Palace and many other points of interest. I tend to prefer the old to the new, so if a city has a historical or old district, I head straight for it.

In my research it was inevitable that I would come across the floating markets for which the country is famous. There are a few right in Bangkok but, even though convenient, they were too touristy for me. I wanted the real thing. So I got on a bus for the hour and half drive down to Amphawa on the Mae Klong river, not far from where it emerges into the Gulf of Thailand. Amphawa has a large floating market of its own but it is also near some others, Damnoen Saduak being perhaps the best known. A short tuk-tuk ride followed by a brief walk along the river front, took me to the homestay I had booked, right on the river. It turned out to be a wonderful place to stay.

The photos in this post were all taken at the Damnoen Saduak floating market. I must confess right away that this is not my favorite floating market. It still verges on the touristy, with busloads of this human species arriving from Bangkok on day trips and descending on the market in droves. Because I was staying at nearby Amphawa, I was able to get to Damnoen Saduak at dawn, while it was opening, and had the advantage of being the only foreigner there for a while. (If you want to know which was my favorite, non-touristy, genuine, local floating market in the area, you can e-mail me. I don’t want to make it too well-known as that would destroy its charm. And if you want the name of the “homestay” I found in Amphawa, I will surrender that valuable information at the same time.)

As I gazed out over the sea of boats and vendors of fruit, vegetables, flowers, cooked food, hats and other vital necessities of life at Damnoen Saduak, I caught sight of the saffron-colored robe of a young monk. As I watched, he made his way from vendor’s boat to vendor’s boat, stopping at each long enough to collect the food set aside for him and deliver his prayers. He, or one of his fellows, was obviously a regular because the vendors had packs of food ready to hand over as they devoutly received his blessing. This was not begging in any way. It was definitely an established transaction in which the givers were just as eager and willing to give as the monk was to receive. It had obviously fallen upon him, at least for this day, to provide the food for his monastery, and he went at it with a quiet determination to fulfill his obligations and feed his people.

For me it was  one of those photographic situations where you have a great subject but need to wait for the right location and circumstances. (There’s another type of situation where you have a great location and are just waiting for the perfect subject to appear and get in position.) I stalked him, waling across bridges and down the canals, as he made his way through the floating market. One or two times he noticed me and gave me a curious glance as he rowed his way (somewhat inexpertly) through the canals from vendor to vendor. I think he must have been satisfied that my intentions were honorable as In the end we parted company with broad smiles as he rowed away in his heavily laden boat which seemed about to go under with all the food he had procured, and I walked off satisfied with my photos, both of us successful hunters in our very different ways.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_media_grid element_width=”6″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1543117623143-3847d545-9138-6″ include=”35353,35359,35358,35355,35354,35356″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The images above are some of those I took as I watched his progress through the canals. Note that this is a gallery. Click on the first picture to enlarge it and see the full image and then scroll your way through the others. That way you get the whole image and not just a truncated square version.

The ones below are my favorite – a squared version of which is the main photo for this post – and the last sight I had of this aquatic monk hunter-gatherer as he rowed his brim-full boat down the main canal out of Damnoen Saduak, bringing home the bacon for his monastery so to speak. He looked in danger of being sunk by the wash of the tour boats that passed him heedless on either side, but he made it. Faith I reckon![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”35357″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” onclick=”img_link_large”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”35360″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” onclick=”img_link_large”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]If you would like a copy of the print, it is for sale in my shop here (archival paper, canvas or metal). I’ve printed it on metal and it looks really amazing. It’s also in my book Reflections of Venice – Art and Beauty in the Water which you can get here if you don’t already have it or on iBooks if you have an iPad or a Mac. 

I am always keen to hear from you. You can contact me any time with questions or feedback.

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