Thai statues (part 1)

[mistress_elaine]

About half a year ago, I posted a previous incarnation of these photos to a travel photo community and made the terrible mistake of calling the statues and their background tacky. In the discussion which followed, I tried to explain to a South East Asian girl that to my rather austere eyes (hey, I'm from a Protestant country!), the combination of

Comments

[mistress_elaine]

According to Lonely Planet it's Sukhothai, with two Hs. Which means I've been misspelling it for the past few weeks, as well

[mistress_elaine]

OK, one more vote for Sukhothai. Duly noted. I'll definitely go there when I go back to Thailand, whenever that may be. I'm itching to go back to Burma, as well (mostly to see the Mrauk U temples), so one of these years, I'll just have to make another tour of South East Asia.

God, yes, the ladyboys. I got rather fed up with everybody talking about them. Steered well clear of the ladyboy part of Bangkok and headed for the temples instead. And the restaurants, obviously, because I just love Thai food.

As for Asians and their photos, yes, they're bizarre that way, aren't they? I know exactly two Asians who take pictures without people in them: my Korean roommate from my first year in Taiwan and her brother. My roommate told me her whole family thought she and her brother were mad for taking the kind of photos they did. To make matters worse, she refused to wear any make-up, to her mother's dismay, so she really was an unusual Korean girl.

Did you visit any Khmer temples while you were in Thailand?

[cosmiccircus]

I understand what you're saying - it's all the gold that covers EVERYTHING - some catholic churches are the same way, and we have a tele-evangelist's center near us that's completely gaudy... For me it attracts me, because it's so different from what I normally see, and hey, it's GOLD! I would never want it for myself, but i like visiting it and seeing it, and thinking, wow, who would ever do this!

I like the white statue in these - it offers a great contrast! Good eye!

[mistress_elaine]

Exactly! There's just too much gold in these buildings. And yes, it's pretty, and sure, it's exotic, and I love seeing it and taking pictures of it, but I would never want anything like it for myself. At the end of the day, I like simplicity, not ostentation.

It's funny that you should bring up Catholic churches, because that's exactly the example the South East Asian girl with whom I had the debate brought up. She clearly believed I was a narrow-minded Westerner who had it in for all things Asian, for she said something like, "I bet you would never call a Catholic church gaudy." I tried to explain to her that, yes, I do find many Catholic churches (especially Italian ones) gaudy, but that this gaudiness has its own kind of attraction, just like all the gold in Thai temples. But she honestly couldn't understand how I could call something completely over the top and not my taste and still claim to like it. According to her, that wasn't possible. I'm glad you agree it is...

[mortsleam]

Wow. That's really sumthin'. At some point the decoration just overwhelms one's senses and the only thing to do is appreciate is the contrast between the stark white statue and the... unstark... background.

The little amount of red that peeks through is nice and vivid.

That second statue is kinda hot. Yeah baby, contrapposto.

[mistress_elaine]

"Wow" was my first response when I visited this temple. The second one was either a huge grin or a helpless giggle -- I can't remember which. Either way, I was quite impressed, which was a tall feat, as I had seen the Grand Palace in Bangkok by that time. Go on, run an image search for that one if you dare. It's possibly the gaudiest set of buildings ever designed, though certain Tamil temples might give it a run for its money.

I seriously do like the contrast between the white and the gold/red. That's rather unusual in Thai temples; in most places those statues would have been either multi-coloured (and when I say multi-coloured, I mean spectacularly multi-coloured) or covered in gold leaf.

What I particularly like about the contrapposto statue in the second photo is that its pedestal is a cross between a lion and a rabbit. I mean, really!

[6ft5]

I luv your pictures. You have a great eye, you know.

In my next life I´ll marry you and shizunde will be our schnauzer dog only fed on cous cous icecream! I swear.

*hehe*

Seriously, I really need to visit Chiang Mai. Last christmas we choose between Chiang Mai and Angkor Vat and the lather won.

[mortsleam]

The lather always rinse.

(Sorry, couldn't resist.)

[6ft5]

*hehehe*

*blush*

[mistress_elaine]

Ha. I would have done something like that, but you beat me to it. :-)

Oh, well. While you were being funny, I saw Holland beat Ivory Coast. We've made it to the second round. Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee!

[shizunde]

wow it's certainly an intense decoration.

i love the second one. *is too tired to type & delete typos*

I'm hoping for a similar outcome when Holland take on Argentina at this year's World Cup next
yes, maybe it'll be the year when spain makes it to semi-finals.

[mistress_elaine]

Thanks. :-) I think I slightly oversharpened these photos, but for some reason I like them. They're so quintessentially... Thai.

I expect Spain to go far this year. Farther than Holland, in all likelihood. A Holland v. Spain match would be interesting -- and quite nerve-racking, probably. I haven't been impressed with Holland so far (despite the two victories), but then we're always off to a slow start. Also, it's a fact that Holland have an impressive record when it comes to major football championships held in Germany, finishing second and first in the last two. I'm hoping for some of that German magic to work here, too.

[shizunde]

uhhh! *cheers*

the only bad thing of not having a tv is not being able to follow the sports. even if i know the results it's not the same.

haha! the funniest thing is the mood swings of spanish supporters ^__^ they started being happy enough to be there and after the 1st match they are thinking about being... champions!!
oh-là-là!