The Photography of Dr. Jeffrey P. Harper

My friend John Stiles and I left North Bangkok before sunrise to beat the bad traffic . . .  and to catch the best morning light.  An hour east of Bangkok we entered the Thai agricultural landscape . . . and the sunrise.

 

The morning sky, clear during the 'cool season,' with ground fog.  A beautiful 18c morning.

 

I drove our new Honda hybrid on its first rural photo ramble.  60++ MPG.  Nice.

 

Of course we weren't the only people out on the small rural roads that morning.  Folks were up and about on their daily chores.

 

A nice morning to walk out into the lush rice fields.

 

A beautiful discovery of a lotus flower among the wet rice field.

 

Our photo rambles are only slightly planned, instead we rely on discovering The Interesting as we go.  We spotted a Buddhist wat in the distance across a rice field and went about finding the road that would take us there.  We discovered Wat Ket Samoron by this method. We were very happy about it too.

 

Although Wat Ket Samororn is a Thai Buddhist temple, it had a very beautiful Chinese temple on grounds.

 

The interior of the Chinese temple did not disappoint: fabulous statuary and spiritual decor.

 

The morning light was fabulous for photographing the giant Buddha  . . . 

 

There were many small altar rooms around the wat grounds.  This glassed-in one had golden morning light illuminating the altar.  Wonderful.

 

A chedi with office among the many small wat structures.  These rural wats are always filled with interesting surprises.

 

We spotted the roof of a large temple building across the wat grounds and went there to see what we could see.

 

We were pleasantly surprised with a large sitting Buddha statue.

 

A wonderful scene in the old rural wat.

 

This is the main wat building and the one we say from across the rice fields.  The morning golden light cast upon the golden wat . . .  just WOW!

 

The interior Buddha-lined colonnades of the grand wat.

 

We walked around this very large wat.  There were many buildings, chedis, and statuary.

 

Everywhere we looked there were amazing images to capture with our cameras.

 

A nice painted scene on the wall of one of the family altar rooms.

 

On the way back to where I parked the car, I realized this wat sat next to a beautiful canal (khlong) that was lit in perfect morning light.

 

A perfect serene Thai khlong in the morning light. It was early in the day, so we left to ramble up the rural roads.

 

When you drive the rural Thai byways you come across small roads that have large elaborate gateways, indicating there is a large wat somewhere down that road.  We turned in under a giant golden gateway and drove about a mile to discover this amazing wat along a small river, Wat Bang Krabao.

 

This "see no evil" statuary seems to be universal . . . I have seen it all over the planet.

 

From afar, as we entered, the wat looked very pretty.

 

There were many, many structures, altars and statuary around the very large wat grounds.  But like some other wars I have been to, those who donate do not always follow through with maintenance.  There were areas that were quite down at the heal . . .

 

A nice goat was donated, but never repaired or removed.

 

As this wat sat next to a canal, there were several of these old rice barges set up on display stands.  

 

Like many wats in Thailand, you will see statuary and altars denoting the many strains of Buddhist thought . . . and sometimes other religious traditions (this Buddha is from the Taoist tradition).

 

Much of Wat Bang Krabao was very pretty, but other parts were disheveled, as if there was no central wat management coordinating it's design and caretaking.  We travelled on to the basket weaving village on our GoogleMaps.  Unfortunately, we were misinformed,  Some good people at a Home Stay told us that days of the village as a center of basket weaving were long gone.  What to do now?  Consult GoogleMaps for "Attractions" nearby, of course.

 

GoogleMaps sent us to the Bamboo Bridge.  Well, actually, a cafe with a bamboo bridge attraction.

 

It was an amazing attraction.  Perhaps the finest bamboo bridge I have ever seen.

 

There were many ducks swimming in the pond under the Bamboo Bridge.  Very picturesque.  We moved on, more or less heading back to Bangkok disappointed that we didn't get to see basket weavers at work.  And then we saw a roadside sign, ANCIENT TOWN 3km.

 

"Si Mahosot Ancient Town Located at Ban Khok Wat, Tambon Khok Peep, these sites were constructed in the Davaravati Period, with oval shape, and the area of about 700 Rai." Cool, an ancient 6th-13th century archeological site.

 

What we had stumbled upon was an ancient city that had been abandoned over 10 centuries ago.  What remained were several water tanks (ponds) with relief carvings still intact, the base of an old temple, and the city walls/moat that surrounded the entire complex.  It was a very fascinating place.

 

The water tank relief carvings were in very good shape for 1200 years old.

 

The Thai Archeological Department had set out these helpful keys to deciphering the tank carvings.  These tanks would have been used to store water to sustain the town through the dry seasons.

 

A stepped feature for entrance to the tank.  The tank was perhaps 12-15 feet deep.

 

The second tank was not as well preserved, or had not been excavated and restored.

 

The base of a 7th century (1300 years old!) temple still could be seen.  The entry steps would be to the right hand side.

 

A replica of a 7th century Buddha statue was left in the place it was found.

 

The original of this Buddha is in the National Museum in Bangkok.

 

A stone plinth used for the main temple door hinge was just left there in the dried leaves.  It felt like I had discovered something important.

 

The 1400 year moat was still visible (no doubt, restored).  A remarkable construction.

 

Although this archeological site was in a very remote rural area, we were happy that there was signage explaining the various features of the Ancient City.

 

It was getting on in the afternoon and we decided to head back to Bangkok . . . while checking GoogleMaps for interesting things we might explore along the way, this Vishnu statue popped up.  Very interesting to find this just outside the Ancient Town moat.

 

We crossed over the beautiful Ancient Town moat one more time on our way back to the main road . . . . 

 

Our last stop was in this dry grove of trees to see a magic artifact . . . the supposed footprint of the Buddha.

 

The site was well developed with other ancient ruins.

 

An altar with a gold leaf replica of the Buddha's footprints.

 

Although difficult to make out, these are impressions of the Buddha's foot prints.  Of curse, there is no record of the actual Buddha ever visiting Thailand (Siam), but never mind.

 

I was very happy with the day we had spent rambling east of Bangkok.  This is always available to me from my home: just get in the car and drive two hours and discover many amazing things.