‘If we look at the world with a love of life, the world will reveal its beauty to us.’ Daisaku Ikeda

We spent 8 days in Bangkok. Our goal was to look around as much as possible for all kinds of inspiration. We went out for walks. Sometimes we took the bus. Inspiration was all around.

Bangkok is a city full of markets. The open-air ‘Chatuchak’ weekend-market has more than 8000 stalls. There are many food-markets. Almost everywhere are mini food-trucks and stands, where locals are selling various self-made snacks and drinks along the streets. It is possible to eat well in Bangkok without ever enter going to a restaurant. Generally, Thai people like to eat many small meals throughout the day.

There is also the ‘Pak Khlong Talat’ flower market. Flowers from all around Thailand can be found here – roses, jasmine-flowers, orchids, marigold and many more. In Thailand, marigold is the symbol of respect and good luck. Women around the market were making marigold-garlands, which are used to worship Buddha statues in the temples.

We saw a baby, which was hanging and dreaming above flowers in its little bed. The mother was sitting right next to the baby, patiently creating flower garlands with a smile on her face. Once in a while, she made sure that the baby’s bed was softly moving back and forth.

We walked around this fantasy-island enjoying the different colours and scents of all the beautiful flowers. All the people were busy everywhere at the market. Florists were sitting in between the flowers creating smaller or bigger garlands. Some were putting flowers on ice buckets. Others were transporting containers of flowers in different directions. Everyone was doing something. And there was nobody, who was not enjoying the work.

According to the teaching of Buddha, flowers are a reminder that all living beings do not exist forever. As the beauty and fragrance of flowers will go away some day, we should live in the present and value, what we have now.

The atmosphere of the flower market was a big contrast to the busy traffic of the city. It is hot in Bangkok. Very hot. There are many cars and even people on motorbikes driving around. Even though, drivers are often times stuck in traffic jams, they wait and drive peacefully.

A main part of Bangkok’s heart and soul are its more than 400 temples, also known as ‘wats’. The temples are places of tranquillity and peace. Every day, worshippers show their devotion not only by bringing flowers. They also burn sweet smelling incense sticks. Their fragrance is a symbol of pure moral conduct.