Smoky Spirituality

 Testosterone Heaven...all things smoke and fire.

Midway through yesterday's pagoda hopping excursion, Brianna remarked, "These people are WAY more religious than people at home."  Admittedly our religious background at home is a bit spotty, and I am no authority on religious practices, but I felt pretty comfortable agreeing that the rituals we were witnessing were indeed much more colorful, musical and smoke-filled than what I have seen at home.  They also involved much more fresh food and many more live animals.  All of these factors combined make for an intriguing sensory experience for outsiders.  Incense burned in every nook and cranny, filling the temples with a pungent, eye-burning haze.  Enormous coils of incense hung from the ceiling, dropping warm ashes into our hair as we passed underneath.  Then there were the large ovens with open flames for burning excess incense and pseudo-monetary offerings to the gods.  Foster and Nolan would gladly embrace the opportunity to interact so intimately with smoke and fire in the name of religion.

Yep. That's real meat.  Nothing less for this savage beast.

Did I mention that it's 95 degrees with oppressive humidity?

This scene was even more amusing when you consider the

plate of brightly frosted animal crackers waiting next to the

tiger for his next course.  Cannibalistic?  

Brianna would be quick to join her brothers in religious commitment if it were guaranteed to include regular interaction with all of these live animals.  Bug-eyed fish were a fixture in each pagoda, and two temples featured large collections of live "protector" turtles.  In front of each pagoda were vendors on bicycles carrying small birds packed into cages. If I interpreted the vendor's sign language accurately, it seems you are supposed to purchase a bird to fly your prayers to heaven.  Sadly, these birds with such a holy mission were involved in desperate real world game of survival - struggling to stay alive and stampeding their weaker brethren in the process.

I, for one, did not find spiritual peace in a pagoda, but I was fascinated by the rituals of those who did.  It may have been my smoke-addled brain playing tricks on me, but I'm pretty sure one of those wise old turtles who strongly resembled Oogway from "Kung Fu Panda"  smiled up at me and thanked me for coming.

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