An aged Banyan tree.

Everywhere I looked in Bangkok I noticed shrines to Budda, in which incense was burning and gifts of flowers and food were left. These shrines were often decorated with colourful ribbons and orange marigolds. All the cars and taxi s had garlands hanging from their mirrors, for protection against accidents.

Often these shrines would be in places of great beauty or next to an aging tree. Imagine my joy when I came across this ancient banyan tree. A shrine had been placed next to the tree and the tree was decorated in honour of Budda.

This beautiful tree is over 3oo yrs old and is home to a little squirrel which can be seen dancing about in it!

I couldn t resist hugging it!!! Lovely!!! The banyan tree grows roots from it s branches which in turn become branches once they reach the ground. This is how the tree spreads. Eventually a banyan tree can cover acre’s of land and live for hundreds of years. I fell in love with these trees.

In Bangkok, all the men, with the exception of ladyboys, spend time living as monks and tending to the temples. Most serve a minimum of three months and use the time to become more disciplined and less materialistic. They walk through the streets draped in orange attire and are fed solely by the local people who often rise at 5am to ensure the monks are fed. The temples also  survive purely on donations from the local people. The monks eat only breakfast and dinner and fast for the remaining of the day.