So we turned left and found ourselves confronted by some vendors and monks both wanting money. I must admit that I felt a little embarrassed by the monks begging. They seemed friendly enough, but I don't really know what you are supposed to give a monk. If I gave them the change in my pocket, would that be insulting? Beggars can't be choosers, I suppose. But they seemed to prefer the money that folds from the appearance of their begging bowls. I didn't even know if these particular monks belonged to the monastery beyond. If I were Kim from Rudyard Kipling's book, and this had been the streets of Lahore in the early twentieth century then I would probably have known what to do with a Buddhist monk. As I am not, I merely passed diffidently by both monks and vendors alike.The proliferation of Buddha statues at this monastery was quite evident from the outset of the uphill climb. I can't really illustrate how many Buddha statues there were, so I will instead show you a series of pictures.
And just when you thought that you couldn't stand to see another statue of Buddha:
Monkeys!No sooner had I taken this picture, then the monkey in the foreground became bored with the apple in his hand, and began using his friend behind him to satiate another one of his appetites. I didn't take a picture of that though. There's been a big scandal in Hong Kong recently over photographs of celebrities not even getting as far as the monkeys did being published on the Web. So, I wouldn't want to be accused of exploiting these monkeys.
Anyways, here are some more monkey pictures:
I like how these little guys are blissfully unaware of the religious artifacts they use as their playground.At the top of the monastery there were a bunch of temples featuring several different Buddha statues. I'm still confused about some of the Buddhas that look like warriors. Buddha doesn't strike me as the type to take up arms. But he can look pretty intimidating if he wants to.
I think I like this next Buddha statue the best:
It was just past the nine-storey pagoda.
The monastery isn't just about the big life size statues on the way up. The number of statues lining the walls of the main temple are equally impressive.
There are also some large idols in the centre of the temple for worshippers. In front of them is another interesting artifact. The founder of the monastery is Rev. Yuet Kai. It appears that he liked his temple so much that he wanted to become a part of it. Personally, I think he just saw the James Bond movie Goldfinger one too many times. People I know of whose remains are encased in glass: Lenin, Mao Zedong, Rev. Yuet Kai. It's weird how two were revolutionary Communists who built nations, and one was a Bhuddist monk who built a monestary. It's somewhat of a megalomaniacal step to decide that one wants one's remains to be displayed to the world, not the attitude one would expect from a devout Buddhist.
So that was our journey today. Tomorrow, Phuket!
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