This post is in response to the Earthquake in Myanmar yesterday. Currently we are in Bangkok and yesterday we visited Wat Saki (Golden Mount Temple) in the City.
A Buddhist monk (and friend of our host) was with us inside one of the halls when the room began to move, it felt like we were on a boat. The chandeliers were swaying. Tatjana who lived at one time in Japan knew exactly what to do. We got up and moved under the supporting struts and then eventually outside as there were no tall buildings around us. From outside we saw one of the chandeliers lose it’s crystals, falling to the floor.
This earthquake was a bit unusual in it’s movement, it was like being on a boat. Slow movement, making people feel queasy as it affected your inner ear (I guess), it went on for a couple minutes. Tatjana (and other friends) have described earthquakes before to feel more like abrupt movements and for a shorter period.
Then we were trying to find out what was happening online and everything was a bit slow to show on the earthquake sites. Eventually we realised it was a serious earthquake in Myanmar. Phramaha To (our monk) looked quite shaken, he has family in Myanmar and he said he had never known Bangkok to have an earthquake. I’m quite glad he was with Tatjana and I as we were not panicking, quite calm and eventually took him for coffee, still in the temple complex. We continued our conversation, he liked talking to people and had wanted to be a counsellor, we discussed his studies in Buddhist Psychology (more Tatjana than I). We really liked his personality, he emphasised monks are humans and we asked his stance on women monks (not acceptable in Theravada Buddhism in Thailand). I will explain a little more later on these topics later.
When we left, the Temple was closed (presumably to check for damage) so we never got to see the dome.
The day was very long for various reasons but we are unhurt, some were not so fortunate judging by the news.
The Travelling Bee 