monks around Wat Arun
While basically atop Wat Arun (you can go up about 2/3 of the way, which is up some extremely steep and tall stairs (maybe 1′ tall, 6″ deep), I saw this group of monks walking out of a building, down the street and away from the wat.
Because of all the temples around Thailand, one runs into monks all the time. Proper behavior around the wats and around the monks is very important. One never steps on the threshold of the door of a wat, as it is believed that a spirit lives there. Women must not speak to monks nor can they touch them. If they wish to hand something to a monk, they must first give the item to a man, who will in turn give it to the monk. Religion is taken very seriously in Thailand, though one would not know it from the look of bustling, modern Bangkok.
Monks tend to catch one’s eye because of their bright robes, which are a rich orange color. However, I chose to convert this to black and white because of the patterns and textures. I was fortunate to have a camera with me with a serious zoom lens on it or I would never have been able to get in close enough. Other than cropping into a narrower shot vertically, this is the full frame.