Phitsanulok temple, like most Asian temples, was a complex of shrines, inside and out. I stood outside the first, watching, so I knew the correct behavior. Then I followed suit: I took off my shoes and entered. The attendant looked at me quizzically until I gestured with money toward the donation box, then he handed me the articles he had handed to everyone else: a lotus bud, an incense stick tied to a candle, and a small piece of gold leaf inside a folder piece of paper. I did obeisance to Buddha and offered him the artifacts in the appropriate fashion: the lotus bud I placed on a pile of buds; the incense stick I stuck in an urn full of sand; the gold leaf I rubbed onto a smaller Buddha figure in front of the larger statue. After that I made my way to the other shrines to see the other Buddhas, including Phitsanulok's unique Buddha, with its flame-like aura.
Sukhothai Eighth Wat
September in Northern Thailand is the height of the rainy season, and rain became one of the recurrent (and not unpleasant) features of my trip. It began falling while I wandered around the temple, and soon became a heavy downpour. I stood with the other temple visitors, all Thais, in the covered area just outside the door of the primary shrine and watched it for almost an hour before wading through the accumulated water to the closest rickshaw to return to my hotel. My initial impression of Thailand was that it had a strangeness that the rest of Asia had not held for me. Less English is spoken, few signs are in English, and English speakers, because of their accents, are more difficult to understand. Thai also does not use
